Chapter Text
Kara walked down the hall hurriedly, pulling up the hems of her dress as she reached the stairs. Technically, there was a staff elevator on the other side of the castle that she could use to get to the damn top floor, but right now, the idea of walking there felt even more tedious than walking up three flights of stairs.
And besides, it would take her longer to get to Mon-El’s room.
She’d been out on the garden, tending to the flowers when one of the servants rushed to her side and told her that the prince was asking for her. Even the fact that Mon-El had called himself the prince instead of Mon-El told her that this was serious—he asked the servants to tell her “Mon-El” was asking for her whenever it was only a friendly meeting, so that she could differentiate from pressing castle business and, say, a spontaneous dinner date that Mon-El planned for them in his room. Well, when he didn’t actually come and found her himself. He started doing that more and more frequently throughout their relationship.
So yeah, the fact that he didn’t come himself and the whole “prince” thingy, she knew that either there was something pressing…or his parents were around. Either way, she had to hurry.
So, the stairs it would be.
She thought about what could’ve happened as she mounted the stairs—what his parents might’ve gotten angry about now. Well, his mother, really—without Queen Rhea, Lar Gand, the King, was actually a pretty nice person. She remembered that Mon-El had agreed to sign a treaty in the name of Daxam with Krypton a couple of days ago—a mutually benefiting treaty that not only included economic and political ties, but also prevented a war from happening between the two kingdoms. A war that, in some ways, Rhea had prompted, and that Kara and Mon-El had been struggling to find a way to prevent for the last couple of weeks. Now that Mon-El was above twenty-one, he was legally an adult, and thus a full-fledged prince that could decide on matters of the kingdom without needing the approval of his parents.
It was a good thing, too, as Kara was sure Rhea would never allow the signing of that treaty. That was why she and Mon-El had been so secretive about it, deciding on the terms only when they were far away from the castle and away from anyone’s ears.
Kara had never liked the Queen, yet her dislike had quickly turned to hate after getting to know Mon-El personally. That…that despicable woman had turned his life into hell, had almost turned this amazing man into a shell of who he was, pushing him into hating himself. You saved me from her, Mon-El had once confessed to her. If you hadn’t believed in me, I don’t know if I could’ve believed in myself.
She’d been proud of that, yes, but even the thought of what might’ve happened if she hadn’t reached him in time was horrifying.
But seeing Mon-El now… Not only confident, but also kind and caring, towards his friends and his people… It eased her worries, reminding her that Rhea didn’t have an influence on him anymore. He was saved, and once Rhea was gone, this kingdom would be saved, too, under Mon-El’s rule. She… She doubted a servant like her would be able to be with him then, but that was something to think about when the time came. She didn’t need another thing to worry about.
Approaching Mon-El’s room, Kara slowed her steps, deciding to listen in to the conversation inside before going inside, to at least know what she’d be dealing with.
“—I was just trying to fix what you’ve very spectacularly ruined, Mother!” Mon-El’s yell caused her to wince. Aaaand yep, she hadn’t been wrong. This was about that Krypton treaty.
“What I’ve ruined? I did what I had to for Daxam!”
“Oh, don’t even try to lie about it. You only did it for yourself.”
“How dare you—“
“You knew a war with Krypton would ruin us! We’re already struggling with money, Mother; we can’t go against a developed kingdom like Krypton and survive. Thousands of our people would die. Is that what you want?” Rhea didn’t say anything, and Kara felt her stomach drop. Realization hit her only then. Uh-oh. “…It is what you wanted, isn’t it? So that you can—“
“Ever since you started your despicable community outreach projects, we’ve been losing prestige and wealth. I had to do something to thin out the poor population.” Kara didn’t know what she was more disgusted about: Rhea’s words or the nonchalance in his voice as she said them.
Mon-El must’ve been in the same situation, because he could answer only a couple of seconds later. “If you’re waiting for me to apologize for them, Mother, I won’t. It’s your rule that dragged those people into poverty in the first place. And if I have to spare a fraction of my wealth, which is far more than what I need, to help them, to provide them homes, to create them jobs, I will do it. That’s what a good ruler does.”
Pride flickered in Kara’s chest as she finally stepped forward to knock on the door. She was afraid Rhea would go too far if this conversation went on longer.
“Come in.” Pushing the door, she stepped in, her eyes casted down as always. While she didn’t have a problem with looking at Mon-El directly, even barging into his room sometimes, she didn’t risk it with Rhea. If the woman found out about her relationship with Mon-El…
She didn’t even want to think.
Quickly bowing to the Queen and Mon-El, she turned to the latter. “You asked for me, my Prince?” she uttered softly, putting on an innocent expression. Nobody needed to know that she was eavesdropping. Yet she did dare a quick glance at Mon-El, only to see his tense expression. His eyes only softened when he looked at her.
“Yeah. Kara.” She almost smiled at hearing her name from his mouth—almost. “I wanted to ask… Can you prepare my painting supplies and meet me in the garden in fifteen minutes? I need to clear my head a little bit.” Kara nodded immediately, bowing again before leaving. It was hard to contain the excitement in her heart. These “painting sessions” with Mon-El—which were actually a cover for their dates—meant that they’d get some alone time—with only two of Mon-El’s guards accompanying them, whom he always ordered to stay away from them so that they didn’t have to worry about people knowing about them—and God knew she needed alone time with her boyfriend. Dealing with this Krypton thingy, they barely had time to just relax together, and today would be the perfect day for that.
She closed the door behind her, yet she still didn’t miss Mon-El’s last words, directed at her mother. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have stuff to take care of. I believe we’re done here anyway, as you won’t be able to convince me to pull back my signature from the treaty.” He stopped for a second. “You know, there was a reason that I added the clause that only the people who signed it could veto it.”
Kara couldn’t help smiling at that. That’s my Mon-El.
“Sometimes I think that it’s impossible for my mother to disappoint me even more than she does daily.” Kara watched him as Mon-El said those words, his eyes trained on a spot in front of them. “And then she goes and does something like this, proving me wrong yet again.”
“I’m sorry,” she couldn’t help saying, even though she hated that those two empty words were all that she could offer him. But Mon-El just smiled, as if even the fact that she was there with him was enough.
“Don’t be, babe. You’re the last person that has to feel sorry.”
“I’m still sorry.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I mean, elevating the rich at the expense of the poor… That I can understand to some extent. It’s not so different than what other kingdoms are doing. But… But trying to get rid of the poor population with a war… It’s…” She didn’t have the right words for it. Feeling her discomfort, Mon-El inched closer to her, lightly wrapping an arm around her.
“Sickening?” he offered quietly. She could only nod. Sickening…and so much worse. She looked up at him.
“Daxam is really lucky to have you, you know,” she couldn’t help saying. If it didn’t, Kara wouldn’t be surprised if half the kingdom went up in flames.
“Daxam is really lucky that I have you,” Mon-El countered. “I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you, Kara.”
“I didn’t do—“
“If you finish that sentence with anything, I’m seriously going to consider smacking some sense into you.” He pulled back from her only to look at her in the eyes. “If it wasn’t for you, Kara, I would’ve stayed as that spoiled, useless brat my mother turned me into over the years. And I wouldn’t have even realized that anything was wrong with it. Granted, I did hate myself most of the time, but it was only when I met you that I realized the power to change all of that was in my hands. It is thanks to you that Daxam is in a better place now, not thanks to me.” His voice was so intense that there was no way not to believe him. Kara blinked back a couple of tears. Damn, in moments like this, she couldn’t help falling even more in love with him.
“I think you’re giving a lot of credit to a servant,” she couldn’t help whispering with a shake of her head. Mon-El chuckled.
“I don’t think you’re giving enough credit to yourself,” he argued, arching his brow. “I mean, you did turn a total brat into a well-functioning prince. Despite what all those young adults books might make you believe, that is not that easy.”
“Huh. I guess that’s right. I did turn you into a model citizen. What would you have done without me?” His smile widened.
“Wallowing about how horrible my life is?” he offered. After four years of being together, four years after she pulled Mon-El out of his own misery, they were able to joke and laugh about his past without feeling a pang of pain.
“Probably.” She’d been so focused on him that she noticed the picnic blanket laid literally right in front of her too late. If Mon-El’s arm wasn’t wrapped around her waist and he held her back, she would’ve stepped all over the food—and what a waste that would be. She arched her brow. Was this… “Um… Mon-El?”
He couldn’t have prepared a picnic for her, right? Not that he wouldn’t do it, but…would he risk it? This would’ve required asking someone to prepare all this food, come here, and set it all up, and…and if someone found out it was her that all this was for…
She looked up at him. “Please tell me you didn’t have someone prepare this for us.”
“Winn did it,” Mon-El quickly explained to ease her worry. She felt her shoulders relax. Okay, well, so there actually was nothing to worry about. Winn, a.k.a. Mon-El’s best friend and personal guard, already knew about their relationship, and would never betray it to anyone. “And to be honest, I was… I was kind of sick of all those sneaking around, not being able to do whatever we want. Trust me, if I had my way, this wouldn’t be our first picnic. So I just… I just said what the hell. Let’s do it.” He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. “I hope it’s okay.”
Gosh, was that even a question? Happiness bubbled in Kara’s chest as she laughed. “Mon-El, it’s more than okay. But you know that you don’t need to do any of this for me, right? I knew what I was getting myself into when we started dating, and, well, it has been more than four years now…” It felt almost unbelievable, that they’d been together for so long, but at the same time Kara wasn’t surprised. One reason they worked so well was that they’d been friends for so long before they even got together. They understood each other in a way two people jumping directly into a relationship might not be able to.
“Well, yeah, sure,” Mon-El said, sitting on the blanket and pulling her down by his side, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to treat my girlfriend with picnics every now and then.” He grabbed a strawberry from the bowl—a chocolate covered strawberry, which might be Kara’s favorite thing in the entire world—and extended it to her. “Strawberry?”
She only laughed, biting into it without objection.
The conversation quickly drifted off to less serious topics as they began to eat. And damn, Kara couldn’t help thinking, Winn really worked hard for this. There was so many food on the blanket that he must’ve had at least a couple of people prepare this for them. She noted at the back of her mind to thank him when they got back to the castle.
“How’s college going?” Mon-El asked a couple of seconds later, taking her out of her thoughts and the strawberries she’d focused on. A smile pulled her lips. Right now, she was a junior in one of the most prestigious colleges in Daxam—it seemed like a recommendation letter from the prince himself went long ways to make up for the years she’d waited after high school to apply—studying molecular biology. Even the letter was enough for her to be thankful to him, but he was also paying all the costs. She had no idea how she’d be able to make up to him.
Even though he claimed she had nothing to pay him back for, as just making happy was enough for him. He also claimed the tutoring costs didn’t even create a dent in his bank account—which, knowing the numbers, was actually true—so she didn’t push him much. If he was happy doing this, then she wouldn’t take it from him.
He already had so few things he could do just for himself.
“It’s really amazing. We’re actually working on a potential cure for cancer now,” she said excitedly. “It’s… Well, it’s a bunch of molecular biology mumbo jumbo, but we think it could offer a safe and effective alternative to chemotherapy with relatively few side effects. If it works the way we hope it will, it might save a lot of lives.” Mon-El smiled at her.
“Well, look at you, being all heroic, saving lives…”
“Not yet,” Kara said, even though she thought the treatment was pretty promising. “We still have a bunch of tests we need to do before we can even start the clinical trials. But that reminds me.” She lifted her head to look at her. “Our professor, Ms. Grant, said that our research might be postponed a bit, because apparently there was a funding problem in the school? She said that the Queen drew back her funding from the molecular biology department. Did you hear anything about it?” A frown pulled his brows.
“No…but after today, honestly, that wouldn’t surprise me. I’ll look into it as soon as we get back.” Relief washed over Kara. She smiled gratefully at him.
“Thanks. Because… Well, I think our research might actually help people, and it’d be really bad if it was cut just because of some budgeting problems.”
“Yeah. I’ll fix it. Don’t worry. I’ll…” He seemed a bit distressed, and considering just how much work he was juggling, she wasn’t surprised at all. “I’ll figure out a way to get you that funding.”
“You’re amazing,” Kara couldn’t help saying as she leaned forward to press a kiss on his cheek. “I know I say that a lot, but you’re amazing.”
“I don’t mind that.” He gave her a cheeky grin, and she couldn’t help rolling her eyes. She sighed.
“Aaaand now you ruined it all.” Mon-El just laughed and leaned back, opting to stay quiet instead of answering.
“How’s Alex?” he asked a couple of seconds later, popping a strawberry inside his mouth. “It’s been some time since I last saw her.” Alex was one other person that knew about Kara and Mon-El’s relationship, having met Mon-El a couple of times, secretly. She still remembered the first time she told her sister that Mon-El would be visiting—and despite her promises that Alex didn’t need to do anything special just because he was the prince, the woman had been pretty nervous.
But after that first visit, after realizing how casual Mon-El was, he and Alex had struck up a pretty close friendship, and Kara couldn’t help feeling so grateful that the two most important people in her life cared about each other as well.
“Oh, she’s great,” she said, and she couldn’t help thinking just how good it felt to say that without lying. Because Alex really was great. She was studying medicine at a prestigious medical school, all thanks to Mon-El again. She was, as Kara heard, the top of her class, and she already landed a summer internship at Daxam International Hospital. But most of all, she had a loving girlfriend, Samantha Arias, and a sort-of-step-daughter, Ruby, from Sam’s jerk ex boyfriend. Alex was, finally, truly happy, and that was honestly all Kara could ask for. “She’s enjoying her vacation right now. She went skiing with Samantha.”
“Her girlfriend?”
“Yup. I think they’re getting serious.” She smiled when she remembered her last conversation with Alex. “She just told me that Ruby finally started calling her ‘mom’.” Alex had always seen Ruby as her daughter, and Kara could imagine how happy Alex must’ve been when Ruby started seeing her as her mother as well.
“Oh. That’s so sweet.” Kara couldn’t help chuckling at his reaction.
“Are you softening, my Prince?” she couldn’t help teasing him, even though she knew, despite having the outer appearance of a high school jerk, he actually had the biggest heart in the world. He scoffed at the question.
“Come on. As if you don’t know that I’m a big, soft hearted guy.” A laugh escaped her lips.
“That’s true,” she had to admit, watching him inch closer to her. “Just a—“ He kissed him before she could continue, pushing her down on the grass. Her thoughts were immediately replaced by fire coursing through her body. Lifting her hands, she ran her fingers through his hair, letting her eyes flutter close. She let herself go to the kiss, letting her muscles relax at Mon-El’s comforting touch. There was a time kissing him brought an overwhelming rush of emotions at her, but after years… She just felt at home. She felt safe, and that was a lot better than feeling on the edge.
“What were you saying?” Mon-El asked as he pulled back, arching his brow at her.
“Shut up.” Kara pulled him close and kissed him again instead of answering.
They were so caught up in the kiss that they didn’t notice the two pair of eyes watching them from behind the trees.