Author's note: There is a prologue before this. Check the
TOC if you missed it.
Chapter 1Kal-El stared at himself in the mirror and tried not to fidget as the tailor made final adjustments to his elegant, red wedding robe. The material was stiff and heavy and not at all what he had once pictured himself getting married in.
“Looking good, Brother,” a voice called out in Kryptonian from the doorway. Kal turned to see his brother Ching, dressed in his own fine robes accented in the traditional blue of the House of El.
Kal grimaced as he turned back to the mirror, eyeing the gaudy embroidery on the top half of his robes. “I feel ridiculous. I would rather be wearing a tuxedo.”
Ching chuckled as he walked up behind Kal. He waved his hand to dismiss the tailor, who bowed and left the room, and then clapped his brother on the shoulder. “You would rather look like one of those funny Earth birds who live near the southern pole?”
Kal rolled his eyes and shrugged off Ching’s hand. “They are called penguins. And a tux does not look funny – it is sharp, stylish.” He tugged on the padded shoulder of his robe, hoping to get it to sit better. After a moment he gave up. It was no use.
“Stylish on Earth, perhaps. I do not see the appeal. Besides, you look…” Ching appraised him for a moment and then scoffed. “Well, with that sour look on your face, I cannot speak highly of your looks at the moment. Come now, Kal. The robes are not that bad. They are traditional after all.”
“Something tells me my
bride will not be too pleased to wear traditional Kryptonian wedding robes.” Kal sighed and walked away from the mirror, pacing the small room. “I do not know if I can do this, Ching.”
Ching leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you wish to call off the wedding?”
“Yes…” Kal froze. “No! Peace between New Krypton and Earth hinges upon this marriage. I cannot back out. I will not.” He turned and walked toward the small round window, staring out into the vastness of space.
Far below them, the planet Earth spun slowly – a bright, blue and green marble against an inky, black abyss. North America was just coming into view. It was beautiful. It was no wonder that so many of the Kryptonians wanted it for themselves, never mind the powers bestowed by Earth’s yellow sun. Who wouldn’t want to live on a world with forests and mountains and rivers and oceans and such diverse life all around? Compared to the relative wasteland of New Krypton, Earth was a paradise.
But Earth was not theirs to take. It never had been.
This treaty was only the first step in making things right after Lord Nor caused so much destruction and loss of human life. And, although it seemed ridiculous for the council to insist upon any conditions, this marriage of state was apparently their one sticking point. To fight it would be to delay the treaty and they couldn’t risk the cold war dragging on any longer. It was only a matter of time before someone slipped on either side and fighting began anew. Agreeing to the wedding was the fastest way to ensure that the war ended completely and Earth was left in peace.
“Try to relax, Kal.” Ching said, approaching him from behind again. “Arranged marriages are not so bad. I have been quite happy with mine.”
Kal shook his head. “That is different, Ching. You have known Zara since you were children. I am about to marry a woman I have never even met. I have no idea what to expect. What do I say to her?”
“Hello, my name is Kal? It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance? Something like that is usually a good start.” Ching replied with a touch of sarcasm.
“You know what I mean.” Kal turned to resume pacing. “This is not a first date. It is the first day of the rest of our lives… together!” With a frustrated groan, he sank into a plush chair and leaned forward, cradling his face in his hands. “Not even a week ago, I was not even thinking about marriage. Father promised that I would be allowed to choose my own wife, in my own time. I had intended to finish my education and begin working before I even thought about seeking a bride. But now…”
Ching frowned. “Is Father forcing you…?”
“No, no.” Kal waved off the suggestion. “He made it clear that this was my choice. I could refuse. But I know the consequences if I do. We cannot let this senseless war continue. If my getting married is what it takes, then so be it.”
“You sound like you have made up your mind,” Ching observed.
“I have,” Kal replied firmly.
“Are you ready to go then?” Ching pointed to the doorway, past which a number of dignitaries and council members were now moving to the Great Hall.
Kal sighed and stood up, smoothing his robes. “Ready? Not at all. But I am out of time.” With a deep breath, he set his shoulders back and lifted his chin. He was the son of the First Lord of New Krypton. He would play the part, even if on the inside he was trembling. “Here goes nothing.”
***
Lois Lane eyed her reflection dubiously as the Kryptonian seamstress worked quickly on the hem of her wine-colored robes. “So much for ‘here comes the bride, all dressed in white’,” she quipped to herself, knowing the other woman couldn’t understand her.
This was not at all how she had imagined herself getting married. To begin with, she hadn’t planned on getting married at all until she finished her degree and got her dream job at the Daily Planet, won a few Kerth awards, maybe even a Pulitzer. Then, maybe then, she would have been ready to think about marriage. And that’s only if she was able to find a really super guy. He’d have to be super to keep up with her.
But all of her plans went out the window when her father had approached her last week to discuss the treaty with the Kryptonians and this so-called ‘Marriage of State’ they were pushing for. At first, she’d laughed. He couldn’t possibly think she would go along with something so… so archaic. But he hadn’t tried to force her into it. He’d simply explained the position he was in and that this would be the fastest way to end the war. In the end though, it was her choice.
Not that there was any real choice to make. Her future versus the lives of countless others should the war continue? How could she refuse – even at the cost of all of her dreams and aspirations?
Now, here she was, all alone on a giant space palace, about to marry some pampered Kryptonian prince. Okay, so she technically wasn’t completely alone. Her father was here… somewhere – probably preparing to sign the treaty as soon as the wedding ceremony was complete. Leaders and dignitaries from a number of other countries were also in attendance on the palace. But civilians had been kept to a minimum out of abundance of caution. That meant her own mother and sister were going to have to watch her wedding televised back at the White House.
At the moment, with no one about but a Kryptonian seamstress and a Kryptonian bodyguard by the door, Lois felt completely alone. Neither of the women spoke any English so far as she could tell and Lois wished she had someone to talk to, if only to ease her nerves.
The bodyguard had given her a sheet of paper containing some poorly translated instructions regarding the wedding ceremony. Lois glanced at it and sighed heavily. There was no way she could memorize all of these rules in time. She wondered if they would let her hold onto the paper as a cheat sheet.
“The bride shall maintain distance two paces in behind groom approaching alter of union,” she read, rolling her eyes. “Should I bow to him as well?” Scanning ahead, she scoffed. “Oh, look. Bowing. How did I know?”
The seamstress stood and began adjusting something on the shoulder of her robe but, otherwise, ignored her. Lois figured she might as well continue her monologue. Talking felt good. “You’d think that a civilization with such advanced technology would have come a bit farther socially. This whole thing is so Middle Ages. I mean, what gives? Haven’t you people ever heard of woman’s rights?” Her question was met with silence. “Right. Well, lets see what other archaic rules they have for me. Binding rope? Okay… ceremonial cup… blah, blah, blah.”
Lois sighed and looked up at the mirror. Any moment now, she would be summoned to the Marriage Hall and she would go from being an independent, aspiring young journalism student to a married woman with no career prospects. Okay, so she’d be practically royalty but at what cost? She was losing everything she’d ever known. She would have to leave her family and her home to journey to a distant, desolate planet with a
husband she knew nothing about.
She skipped down to the end of the list, to the last line which had caught her attention when she’d first scanned the document.
Within the Bridal Chamber, the bride will fully submit to husband and wedding be consummated.Lois took another heavy breath and let it out slowly. She was not ready for that part at all. How could she be… with someone she’d never met? And she’d heard about Kryptonian men – how they treated their wives as property and used them for their own pleasure while keeping concubines on the side. She’d be lucky if he wasn’t abusive.
She shook her head to dispel the thoughts. Her father had spoken highly of Jor-El. Surely his son would be a semi-decent man, at the very least. In any case, she wasn’t about to put up with any abuse. She may have only just started Tae-kwon-do but she’d picked up a few tricks and the Kryptonians would only have their super strength until they left the solar system. After that, she was pretty sure she could take him down if she took him by surprise.
“You’ve got this, Lois,” she coached herself. “In any case, you’ve still got to get through the ceremony and the reception before you get to…
that. And then I’ll just… get it over with quickly. It won’t be so bad.” She drew in another shuddery breath. “Oh, who am I kidding? I am so not ready for this.”
She looked back down at her paper, knowing she should read the parts she had skipped over before the ceremony began. Before she could resume studying the rules, however, a chime sounded from the hallway and her bodyguard stepped back into the room. From that point on there was a lot of shuffling about as she was escorted through the hall while the seamstress tried to make some finishing touch on her robe. Another woman appeared and began fusing with her hair. At some point the list was removed from her hands. Lois hoped she had read the most important parts and that she could just follow along with whatever she had missed.
They turned down another hallway and stopped in front of a door, at which point the seamstress, the hairdresser, and her bodyguard all stepped back. Lois looked at the door and then back at her bodyguard.
“Am I supposed to go in?” she asked. The other woman’s face was impassive. She did not respond. “Yes? No? Maybe?” Lois prompted further to no avail. “Okay… I’m gonna go in now. Alright?” She slowly reached for the panel which would open the automated pocket-door. When no one stopped her, she completed the action.
The door slid open with a soft woosh and Lois stepped through the opening, still glancing back at her bodyguard in case she was doing something wrong. The door slid shut behind her, cutting off further contact and forcing Lois to turn her attention to the room she had just entered.
Looking in front of her, she suddenly wished she was back behind the door.
She found herself in what she assumed was the Great Hall. The room was enormous. She’d been in some pretty big ballrooms back on Earth and this dwarfed them all. But it wasn’t the size of the room, which made her mouth go dry and her throat close up – it was the people.
She’d been to many events with her father since he’d become president. She’d stood in front of crowds and smiled and posed for pictures. But that was different. Her father had been the center of attention.
But here, in this moment, every eye in the gigantic hall seemed to be trained on her. And she hadn’t the slightest idea what she was supposed to do next. Fortunately, before she could decide how to react, the door across from her opened and a Kryptonian man stepped through, drawing all the eyes away from Lois and onto himself.
Lois also looked at the young man and her eyes widened. He had dark hair and dark eyes, a strong jaw, and a solid build. But what caught Lois’ attention was the fact that he was wearing wine-colored robes reminiscent of her own. No one else in the room was dressed this way. The humans in attendance were dressed in typical formal-wear and most of the Kryptonians wore body suits or robes in shades of black, brown, and grey. But this man wore red – like her – which could only mean…
This must be her soon-to-be husband – Kal-El.
Upon realizing this, Lois allowed her eyes to study him farther. The robe was unflattering, but the bodysuit he wore underneath revealed the shape of his arms. She had no doubt that, even without the powers of Earth’s sun, he was strong.
Her gaze drifted to his face as she tried to glean what kind of a man she was about to marry. Their eyes met for a moment and she got the feeling that he was studying her in much the same way she was studying him. Suddenly self-conscious, she looked away. She took a breath to steady herself, determined that she would not show weakness, and looked back at her husband-to-be only to find him staring at his feet.
Just then, a fanfare sounded and Kal-El lifted his head, but did not look at her. He set his shoulders back and stepped into the aisle, then waited. After a moment, Lois realized that he was probably waiting for her. She stepped up next to him and he nodded without looking at her. Then he took a deep breath and began to walk forward sedately.
Lois began to walk with him, but then she remembered one of the few rules she’d actually managed to read and fell back two paces. Kal-El faltered for a half a second and glanced back at her quickly before resuming his gait.
He seemed… nervous. Lois almost breathed a sigh of relief. He was nervous too. That was good. Or well… she supposed he didn’t like being nervous anymore than she did. But so often the Kryptonians came across as emotionless. To see Kal-El display even this small amount of trepidation, reassured Lois that she wasn’t marrying someone incapable of feeling.
As she followed him slowly down the long aisle, she considered him from behind. He was handsome at least – it was small compensation for marrying a complete stranger but she would take what she could get. Given that she didn’t speak Kryptonian and he likely didn’t know a lick of English, looks may be all they had to go on. Their marriage was off to a rocky start before it even began.
Why did I agree to this again? Lois asked herself.
Right. Peace. I’m doing this for peace.They arrived at what she supposed was the Alter of Union and knelt before some older Kryptonians in grey robes. Lois glanced at Kal-El but he kept his eyes firmly ahead, his jaw set, and his expression unreadable.
What followed was basically meaningless to Lois. A lot of words were said – none of which she understood. There was incense and a large cup of what looked like wine. At one point, her arm was tied to Kal-El’s with a gold-colored rope. His arm was warm next to hers. She looked at him again but he didn’t seem to notice.
Then they were being led away from the alter, side by side this time which was good since their arms were still bound. They stopped in front of an ornate double door. The elder said some more words in Kryptonian and handed them the cup of wine. Then he bowed and stepped aside as the doors slid open with a woosh.
Lois stepped inside with her new husband and, for the second time that day, felt her throat close up. She froze, unable to move as she stared at the room’s principal feature – a large bed.
