Previously On Contractually Bound:
Lois scurried out of the observation room and outright bolted back to the chambers that she shared with Kal. As she fled down the halls, she was thankful that there was no one to watch her progress. She reached the rooms and let herself in, then took a seat on the couch. For a minute, she struggled to calm her breathing and to compose herself. After another perhaps five or ten minutes, she heard Kal enter. She stood, steeling her nerves.
"Lois?" Kal said as he entered the living room. "I thought you'd be asleep by now. I was just down in the gym."
He was still shirtless. Reflexively, he held his sodden blue shirt against his chest. Lois wondered if he was shy or if he was worried that his partially undressed state would offend her. Or perhaps he felt as though clinging to the shirt would somehow protect him from her usual wrath.
"I know," Lois said gently. "Kal? Can we...talk? I...have some things...that I really need to speak with you about."
Kal looked caught off guard. His eyes grew wide and distrustful, as though he were trying to decide if he had done something wrong. Lois thought that he resembled a cornered animal. A terrified, cornered animal.
"Please?" Lois added, hoping to alleviate some of his fear.
Slowly, Kal nodded. He swallowed hard. "All right. But...I should probably get cleaned up first. Is that all right?"
"Of course," Lois said, giving him a small smile. "I'll be right here when you're done."
***
Getting To Know You...Getting To Know All About You
Kal quickly ducked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. His heart was racing, not from the time he'd spent in the gym, but in fear of the conversation that was now looming. He pressed his back to the wooden door and sighed. He'd thought for sure that Lois would be asleep by now. He stripped out of his sweat-drenched clothing, shoved it down the laundry chute, and turned the shower on as hot as he could stand. The hotter the water, the cleaner he felt.
As he stepped beneath the spray of water, his mind whirled and his stomach clenched. What could Lois possibly want from him? He was pretty sure that he hadn't done anything wrong, at least not today. He'd barely even had time to say two words to Lois. Unless...was she angry that he'd chosen to go with Jai earlier when she'd tried to talk with him? Kal grabbed the soap and scrubbed his body angrily. Why had he done that? Mentally, he berated himself. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. But now, he was certain that he'd be on the receiving end of Lois' wrath once more.
He began to rinse the soap from his body. He took a moment to enjoy the sensation of the hot water on his tired muscles. As he stood there, appreciating the relief that it brought, another thought occurred to him. Lois hadn't actually sounded mad. She hadn't commanded him to speak with her. She hadn't demanded that he sit down and talk right as he got back into the chambers. She had actually asked him if they could talk. She had said please. She had even sounded a little unsure of herself. It was almost enough to make Kal hopeful that maybe he wasn't going to be subjected to another one of Lois' verbal assaults.
Kal lingered in the shower as long as he could, then slowly dried, shaved, and dressed. He knew that he was stalling, and knew that Lois probably knew it as well. He combed his damp hair, then sighed as he stared into the mirror, leaning against the countertop. It took all of his nerve to finally exit the room and walk back to where Lois awaited him in the living room. But at the last moment, his nerve abandoned him. He headed to the kitchenette instead.
"Do you want a cup of coffee?" he asked her, still stalling.
"Sure." She sounded just as scared to get into whatever discussion she had in mind.
Kal nodded absently, and prepared two mugs of steaming coffee. He fixed Lois' cup first, remembering how she had made it on their first morning together. She'd never varied the amounts of sugar and cream, so he felt confident enough to make her drink for her. Then he fixed his own. With a mug in each hand, he entered the living room again. Lois had started to rise to go and fix her drink, but Kal handed her the one that he'd made for her.
"Thanks," she said, sounding surprised.
"You're welcome."
He started to sit across the room in one of the armchairs, but Lois shook her head.
"Come sit on the couch with me?" She patted the empty cushion next to her. "Please?"
"I...all right," Kal stammered, his heart hammering in his chest.
He moved across the room to the couch. After a second of indecision, he sat as far from Lois as he could. The middle cushion of the couch was both exceedingly small a space, and as wide as an ocean, all at the same time. Kal sat sideways on the couch, drawing his legs beneath him. His eyes dropped to his lap. He tried desperately to think of something to say. In fact, they both seemed to be struggling for a place to begin. They both took a sip from their mugs as they thought.
"How...how did you know how I like my coffee?" Lois asked after the first sip.
"I watched as you made it that first morning when we had breakfast in these chambers," Kal said, staring into the depths of his own mug. "I thought that knowing how you like your coffee might..I don't know...come in handy one day. I just haven't had an opportunity before now to fix you a cup. Or the nerve. Is it okay?"
"It's perfect."
"I'm glad." He brightened a little inside.
They both lapsed into another silence. Once again, Kal found himself at a loss as to what he could say. Part of him was desperately curious about what Lois wanted to talk to him about. The other part of him dreaded it. He took a thoughtful sip of his drink, and savored the hot liquid as it coursed down his throat.
"Kal," Lois said, breaking the silence for him.
"Look, Lois...I'm sorry," he said, the words coming out in a rush. "You wanted to talk earlier and I left with Jai. I'm sorry. You must be furious with me. I promised myself that I wouldn't do anything to make you mad. At least...not intentionally."
"Kal," Lois said again, effectively silencing the prince. "You don't need to apologize."
"I don't?" Surprise flooded Kal's voice and his eyes briefly flickered up to look at Lois.
"No," she said. "If anything, I'm the one who should be apologizing. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"I don't think I understand," Kal said, scrutinizing her features, as though they would clue him in. "You haven't done anything."
"Sure I have," Lois said. "I've been horrible to you. I'm so sorry for that. I know that it doesn't sound like much. But it's true. It's just...this marriage...this whole situation...I haven't taken to it very well."
"Is it really that bad being married to me?" Kal asked in a small voice. He spoke so softly that Lois almost didn't hear it.
"Oh...no, of course not," she tried to reassure him, sliding a little closer to Kal. "You haven't done anything wrong. It's all been my fault. I've been frustrated and angry at this situation, and I've been taking it out on you. It wasn't fair of me. You've been nothing but a gentleman and I've been...atrocious. I can't believe that you've put up with me for this long."
"It hasn't been ideal," Kal admitted, feeling uncomfortable. "But, well, I don't blame you for being mad. And I don't blame you for wanting to fight back. I haven't enjoyed the circumstances surrounding this marriage either. But...what changed your mind? And why now?"
Lois sighed and shrugged. "I'm a little embarrassed to admit this. But...I've been watching you these last three months."
"Watching me?"
Lois nodded, her face flushing. "I've watched how you interact with people, to try to see what kind of man you are. I've even...followed you...when you've left the chambers at night. At first, I wanted to prove to you...and to myself...that you were a louse and that you deserved my scorn. I was so sure that you had lied to me about never bedding any of the concubines. I wanted to catch you in a lie. But, after a while, I realized that you hadn't lied to me. It made me furious to see that you were doing nothing more sinister than taking a walk or spending a few hours at the gym."
Kal arched an eyebrow, more amused than anything at Lois' admission.
"And now?" He gave her a tentative smile.
She returned his smile with a small one of her own, one of the very first that Kal had seen from her, and the first that she had directed at him. She looked relieved that he wasn't angry over her confession.
"Now, I'm glad that that's all that you were doing. And I admit that I was wrong about you," she said, her voice going soft. "Can you forgive me for all of the horrible things that I've said and done?"
"There's nothing to forgive," Kal said gently. "We've both done said and done some things that didn't help matters. That much is true. But...I have no hard feelings towards you. And I'm willing to give this a second chance, if you are. I'd like for us to be friends, at the very least."
"I'd like that," Lois said, brushing a lock of her dark hair behind her ear, like a shy young girl.
"So...friends?" Kal asked, sticking his hand out towards Lois.
She took his proffered hand and shook it. "Friends."
It was the first physical contact they had had since their hands had been bound at the marriage ceremony, and the first time they had touched under their own power. The sensation sent a bolt of electricity through the prince. He wondered if Lois had felt it.
Kal's smile bloomed on his face as the last bit of his pent-up worries left him. He could do this. He could make a fresh start with his wife. For the last three months, he'd been craving the opportunity to put the fighting behind them and to give friendship the chance to take root. Now, it seemed that his prayers had finally been answered.
"What a mess this whole thing has been," he said after a while, chuckling lightly and shaking his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Kal said, shrugging, "up until two weeks before our wedding, I didn't even know that your father had any children, let alone that I'd been promised to one of them. And now look at us."
Lois' eyes clouded for a moment, and Kal worried that he'd said something wrong. "My father rarely tells anyone about Luci and me."
"Why not?" Kal was instantly attentive and frowning, all traces of his amusement gone.
"He's always been ashamed that he never had any boys. The only thing he ever felt girls were good for was arranging marriages that would help him climb the social ladder. I can only imagine how much it must have thrilled him to have a clear opening to unload me on the Supreme Lord's family." Lois' voice had turned bitter.
"I'm sure that's not..."
"It is," she said, cutting him off, though her ire was not directed at him. "And the thing is, it's partly my fault. Despite tireless efforts from my family, I was never a proper young lady, as I'm sure you've guessed. I've always been loud and opinionated, and that drove my father crazy. It's no wonder he would never allow you to meet me before the wedding. He was probably afraid that you'd run off rather than be stuck with a woman who can't hold her tongue and who'd rather climb a tree than learn how to sew."
"That just shows you how little your father knows about me," Kal said, with a shy smile.
Lois looked at him quizzically. "What does that mean?"
"For the last three months, I've admired how unlike other women you are. Okay, so I haven't enjoyed being on the receiving end of your frustrations, but I've liked that you question and challenge things. You're not content to just take things as they are. I respect that. In fact, I'd always hoped that the woman I'd end up marrying would have a mind of her own. A mind like yours, to be perfectly honest. It's pretty refreshing. You have no idea how boring it is being around noble young women who are more interested in playing the part of a proper young lady than in showing any sort of real personality. It's like a slow death." He grinned at her. "And, for the record, I have no use for a woman who sews," he added in a teasing tone. "Now, a woman who will accompany me for a run, or out horseback riding, or in finding new issues to bring to the Elders' attention...that's the kind of woman I prefer."
"You're taking awfully well to the fact that I've just admitted to being the black sheep of the Lyne family," Lois said, though she could not hide her grin.
Kal shrugged. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly your standard, garden-variety noble lord."
Lois laughed, and Kal thought that he'd never heard so beautiful a sound before in all of his life.
"I've noticed," she said.
"My father is okay with that, but it drives the Elders absolutely crazy." Kal grinned, and his eyes sparkled. "Add to that fact that Ching and Jai are both like me..."
"That Elders aren't big fans of that, huh? I mean, from what I've seen, they seem sort of...exasperated by you sometimes."
Kal shook his head. "Yeah. The Elders have mostly stopped trying to discourage our behavior, but once in a while Trey or someone will try to talk us out of becoming too friendly with the commoners, or from going into the city without an armed escort, or roll their eyes when they catch one of us climbing a tree or something. It galls them that we never listen."
"Why don't you?"
Kal shrugged. "If the Elders had their way, my brothers and I would live in a protective bubble, never truly experiencing life. Our mother never wanted us to live like that. And neither does our father. That's why he allows us as much freedom as he can."
"That must be nice."
"It is." He nodded.
"My father was a lot more strict. I think that's why Luci and I always resisted becoming proper young ladies. Well, at least, I did, a lot more than Luci did."
"Well, if it's any consolation, I really am glad that you're not one."
Lois grinned. "I never thought I'd hear that!"
"It's true!"
"I believe you."
"So...can I ask you something?" Kal asked, hesitantly.
Lois nodded. "Sure."
"You said before that you followed me to see if I was going to the concubines. That really bothers you, doesn't it?"
Lois nodded again. "It does. My father...he's only a lesser noble, and he's never had his own women on staff. But that has never stopped him from having affairs with some of the other lesser noblewomen. I thought..."
"You thought that I was just like him," Kal said gently, finishing her thought.
"Yeah," Lois said, nodding. "I know that I had no right to be mad, even if you were seeking them out. It's part of your...privileges as a lord."
Kal snorted his disgust at the idea. "If it was my decision, the practice would stop altogether. I believe that two people should be faithful to one another when they marry. Of course, I also believe that these arranged marriages should also stop. It isn't right to, for all intents and purposes, sell people in exchange for the chance to better your own social network, or as a way to secure better business dealings. Your father sold you in marriage to try to provide for you. Mine sold me as a way to ensure that Ching lived. In both cases, we paid the price for our fathers' business dealings."
Lois smiled at him. "You know what? The more I get to know you, the more you surprise me."
Kal smiled back. "In a good way, I hope."
"In a very good way. In fact, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"Well, that's good. Because we have a lifetime together to be friends. I want you to know, Lois, that you can talk to me about anything. You can ask me anything. I'll never lie to you. I swear it. You deserve better than that."
Lois was quiet for a couple of minutes before she ventured another question. "Kal...about that necklace you gave me on our wedding night. What was the real reason you gave it to me?"
Kal dragged a hand through his hair and his face flushed a little. "The day after my father told me that we were to be wed, I was in the city with my brothers. I was pretty upset over the news, and mourning what I saw as the loss of my freedom. I mean, I had always known that it could be a possibility, that'd I'd wind up having to wed whoever my father chose for me. But, I had begun to hope that I would be free to marry a woman of my own choosing. Anyway, they were sort of teasing me, trying to get me out of my bad mood. I was saying that I was worried over how we'd both take to this marriage. Jai said that I had a gift for worrying. That gave me the idea to get you something. I wanted to give you a gift to show you that I was open to giving this a shot, and that I hoped we could get along. I wanted to find something completely unique for you. I didn't want to get you something that was so common that you'd see it everywhere. I wanted you to know that you'd be very special to me, no matter what happened or what the circumstance of our marriage was."
Lois dropped her eyes to her nearly empty coffee cup. She began to fidget with it. "And I went and threw it at your head. Wow, did I ever make a good first impression."
Kal smiled a little and shrugged. "I've had worse things thrown at me."
Lois gaped. "You're the prince! Who would have dared to throw something at you?"
Kal chuckled. "Okay, maybe not thrown at me, but the summer when I was eighteen, Ching and I went fishing. Ching caught a fish and hauled it to shore so fast and so enthusiastically that it went flying backwards and hit me right in the face." Lois laughed as the image flashed before her eyes. "It took months before Ching and I could see a fish without bursting into a fit of laughter."
The prince adjusted his position on the couch, shifting so that he could bring some relief to his knee. He knew that he'd been pushing himself too hard in the gym over the last couple of weeks. There had been times where he'd visited it two or three times in the course of a day. He rubbed the joint absently.
Lois nodded towards his knee. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Kal said, still rubbing the joint. "I've just been pushing myself a little too hard lately. And that has been causing my knee a little bit of pain in the last week or so."
"If you have pain, why continue to push yourself?"
"It's a little hard to explain," Kal said with a shrug. "But, I find the gym to be kind of a haven of sorts. I can work out my feelings there - if I'm stressed or upset or just have a lot on my mind. I've just overworked my knee, that's all. If it gets bad, I can ice it or take a painkiller. It's no big deal."
"What happened to it? If you don't mind my asking."
Kal sighed. "My brothers and I have all served some time in Krypton's army. I was participating in some training exercises one day. I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. We were getting a lesson on the different types of explosives and how to handle them safely. One minute everything was fine. The next minute, things were going off. Everyone started to run, including me. There was a lot of fire, and smoke, and noise. I happened to look back and saw one of the guys laying on the ground. He'd been thrown by the force of one of the explosions. He was burnt badly, and he was dazed, but he was trying to get up. I was the only one who saw him, so I turned back. I was helping him get to safety when another explosive went off. The shockwave threw us several feet and I landed the wrong way on my knee. It was the only real injury that I suffered, thankfully. But it was enough to end my military service early. I don't usually have any issues with the knee, unless I really put a lot of stress on the joint or it suffers a blow when my brothers and I spar."
"And the other man?"
Kal shook his head sadly. "He didn't make it. His burns and other injuries were too severe. He lived another two days, then died as an infection spread over his wounds, despite the doctors' best efforts."
Lois' hand flew to her mouth. "That's terrible!"
"Yeah. He was a good man, and my friend."
"I'm so sorry," Lois offered.
"Thanks," Kal said sincerely.
The prince drained the last long swig from his coffee mug and grimaced. The liquid had gone cold as he had talked. Across the couch from him, Lois did the same. Kal was silent for a moment before he spoke.
"Would you like another cup?" he asked.
Lois shook her head. "No, but thanks. I'll never sleep tonight if I have another one. I'll be bouncing off the walls."
Kal grinned playfully. "You know, that might be fun to watch. And certainly different from the Lois that I've seen so far."
Lois laughed a little. "Yeah, not going to happen."
"Can I ask you something?" Kal asked after another minute.
"Sure. It's only fair."
"Well, I don't mean to sound offensive or anything. But...your name. It's not Kryptonian, is it? I've never heard that name before."
"It's not," Lois confirmed. "But my father is obsessed with the culture of some obscure little planet called Earth. He has been, ever since he first started as a research assistant before he moved on to becoming a doctor. In fact, he's the one that got your father interested in the planet, from what I understand. Lois is some Earth name that he liked."
"It's a pretty name," Kal offered, giving her a sincere smile.
"Really? I've never been all that fond of it."
"Really. I like it. It's unique and it seems to fit you somehow. There's no other woman on Krypton like you, that's for sure."
Lois arched her eyebrow, trying to decide if that was a compliment or not. But Kal was smiling and he looked like he was telling the truth. Lois nodded her acknowledgement. A companionable silence fell between them.
"Can I ask you something else?" Kal asked after a couple of minutes. Embarrassment was in his voice and his face was flushed.
"Absolutely."
"Well, I know that you told me about why you view the concubines so...coldly. And I know you hate being forced into this marriage. But there's something I still don't quite understand."
"What's that?"
"Well," Kal said, swallowing hard, but plunging ahead. "That first night. Our wedding night. I went to get changed for bed and came back out to find you...offering yourself to me. Then, the very next day you told me to stay away from you. It just doesn't make any sense to me, whatsoever." He shook his head for emphasis.
Lois sighed and frowned. She hadn't thought of the mixed signals that she had likely sent out.
"All my life," she finally said after a long pause to think, "I've been groomed to be your wife. I've been told what to do, what to say. It's been drilled into my head what was expected of me, as the wife of a nobleman. That I'm supposed to walk two paces behind you. That I'm supposed to offer myself to you so that you can take your pleasure and so that I can produce your heirs. That first night...I was scared. All I could do was remember the lessons that had been driven into me for my whole life. I figured that you would be angry if I didn't fulfill my end of the wedding night duties."
"You were scared?" Kal asked, surprised. "Could have fooled me."
Lois hung her head, ashamed. "When you told me to get dressed, I sensed that you were unlike what I had anticipated from a noble lord. And when you gave that necklace to me, I lashed out because I didn't want to acknowledge that you seemed like you might actually be a decent guy. In fact, every single time I fought with you, I did it for the same reason. And, I'm embarrassed to say, you were the only target I had to vent my frustration and anger about the whole situation to. I wanted to hate you. I wanted to hurt you. Not because of who you are. But because..."
Kal cut her off with his soft voice. "...you had no other way to fight back against the situation."
Lois nodded. "Exactly."
"Oh, Lois," Kal said, his voice soft and low. His heart was breaking for the breathtaking woman before him. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that."
"You're sorry?" she asked, incredulous. "I'm the one who should be sorry. And I am. I'm not proud of the way I handled things."
"Hey now, no more apologizing," Kal said gently. "What's done is done. It doesn't matter anymore. We're giving this a fresh start, remember?"
Lois brightened. "True."
Beyond the windows of the room, the twin moons had long since set. The night was growing old. Kal stretched and yawned mightily, despite his best effort to hold it in.
"I'm sorry," Lois said, shaking her head. "You must be exhausted."
"I'm okay," Kal said, rubbing his eyes.
"You are not," Lois said, a half smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I should let you get some sleep. It's getting late anyway."
"I'm fine. I can stay up if you still want to talk," Kal pressed.
"Like you said, we have a lifetime to talk." Lois rose from the couch. She hesitantly, but tenderly, cupped his cheek in one hand. The gesture only lasted a second, but it set Kal's heart to soaring. "Goodnight, Kal."
"Goodnight, Lois."
Kal watched as Lois moved off to the bedroom. His heart was aching in his chest. But this time, the ache was a good pain. Lois didn't hate him. She'd talked to him. She'd been open to his questions and had taken an interest in him. She had apologized for their rough start to their marriage. And not once had they fought.
The change in her attitude made her even more beautiful to his eyes. He shook his head and made up the couch so that he could sleep. He crawled beneath the blankets and sighed to himself. In the span of two hours, his dark little world had suddenly been flooded with light and promise. He could scarcely wait for the morning, for then, he would have another chance to be with his wife. Already he knew that even if she never grew to love him, he had begun falling for her.
To Be Continued...
