Ok forgot this last time, the Rating is R.
Disclaimer: Smallville, its characters, all belong to someone else. (Sigh) I’m just borrowing them.
The entire fanfiction can be found HERE
~ Jules
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Hi all, I can't remember the last chapter posted but I think it was 39, in case it wasn't I'm posting it again, along with chapters 40 and 41
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Chapter Thirty Nine – Father and Son Talk
Lex, Lionel and Lillian all watched with amusement as Chloe helped herself to a rather large second helping of dinner. “What?” she said when she saw them all staring at her, “I’m hungry.”
“That is going to be one healthy child if you continue to eat like that,” commented Lionel. Chloe just rolled her eyes at everyone and continued with her dinner.
Lillian gently nudged Lionel with her elbow and when he looked at her she glanced over at Lex and gave a slight tilt of her head towards the door. “Subtle as always Lillian,” he murmured.
“Lex,” turning to his son, “if you are finished I would like to talk with you in private.”
“Is everything ok?” asked Lex.
“It’s fine,” replied the king, “I just need to speak with you in private.”
“Well I am ready now if you want to talk,” said Lex as she stood up. He kissed Chloe’s cheek and followed his father out of the room.
“What is all that about?” asked Chloe when the two men had left the room.
“Lex will tell you all about it later,” said Lillian with a smile. “Now we have things to discuss, like the official announcement of your pregnancy, and also I think I have the perfect room for the nursery.”
Chloe laughed as she and the queen discussed the baby.
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Lex and his father walked in silence to the throne room. When they got there Lionel dismissed the guards or servants that where currently there. When the last one had left Lex turned to his father, “ok what is going on?”
Lionel smiled, “I remember seeing you sitting on my throne, oh you must have been about seven or eight, you were holding my crown on with both hands because it kept falling off. I stood watching as you pretended to send I think it was pirates to be executed, because they dared to threaten Metropolis.”
Lex felt a slight blush colour his cheeks at his father words. “I never knew anyone saw me,” he said. “I use to watch you being *king* and when no-one was around I’d pretend I was you. I use to get the most awful pains in my neck from wearing your crown.”
The king laughed, “believe me son, it still gives me pains in my neck.”
“Lex, something has happened that has forced my hand. I hadn’t planned on doing something like this for a few years, but sometimes fate has a mind of her own.”
“Dad, I know you love being all cryptic but you have me completely lost.”
“Effective from the day of my birthday you will be my co-regent, I am going to start handing over certain royal duties to you.” He watched as the colour drained from Lex’s face.
“What? Why? Is there something wrong with you?” stammered Lex. “And did you say co-regent?”
“For awhile now I have been suffering these attacks of shortness of breath and slight chest pains,” began Lionel. “And in the last few months they have been getting more frequent. I had Toby check me out yesterday, well your mother had Toby check me out, and he says the added stress over the last few months on top of the stress of running the kingdom has put me in a slightly vulnerable position.”
“How vulnerable?”
“It’s not that serious at the moment, but it could quite easily escalate and be very serious, perhaps even fatal. Toby recommends things like a diet change and a reduction in my royal duties to help lower my stress levels.”
Lex rubbed a hand over his head as he tried to digest everything his father was saying. The king was sick; he was handing power over to him. “I need to sit down,” he murmured.
“I know this is a lot for you to take in Lex, and especially now with Chloe being pregnant.”
“Do you think I’m ready for this?” he asked. The one thing Lex was sure of was that his father would be completely honest with him, and part of him was slightly afraid of what his father’s answer might be.
Lionel took a deep breath. “You are not as ready as I would like you to be. But do you remember our conversation before you got married.” Lex nodded. “Well I do believe you are more ready now than you were then. Marriage has helped you and the fact you will be a father soon will only help you more. Lex, being king and ruling is a huge responsibility and for a long time I didn’t think you would ever handle responsibility. When your mother and I where discussing your marriage with Gabe I was the most vocal in saying I didn’t think it was a good idea.”
Lex gasped, he had always assumed that all three where in complete agreement about his marriage.
“When my marriage was arranged I had known your mother for awhile, we planned yours without you and Chloe ever meeting. And knowing what you were like with women I was reluctant to, well, drag Chloe into it. But I have to say the girl has impressed me since day one. When you told me about her slapping you my admiration for the girl just shot up. She is good for you and she will help you.”
Lex’s mind was in a whirl; he was going to jointly rule the kingdom with his father. ‘I am so not ready for this,’ he thought. ‘I’m only getting use to the fact that I’m going to be a father.’
“No you aren’t ready for this,” said Lionel as if he could read his son’s mind. “But I have complete faith that you will be able to handle it. You are my son after all.”
Lex grinned at his father for a moment. “I will do my best no to let you down,” he said, his tone serious.
“That’s all I want, and as I said before Lex, you could never let me down. We’ll be doing this together and my first piece of advice to you is let Chloe help. Don’t be afraid to talk things through with her, she’s got a good head on her shoulders and let her guide you. In the future it will be the two of you running the kingdom, I would have never gotten this far if it hadn’t of been for your mother. Her advice and support to me over the years has been invaluable.”
Lex nodded in agreement. “Will mom be saying anything about this to Chloe?”
“No,” he replied. “We both decided that should be left up to you. It is going to be hard, for the both of you and even more so with Chloe pregnant. When the official announcement is made about the baby there will also be one made about you being the co-regent. But the process will start immediately, tomorrow I will start going over with you the kind of duties I will be handing over first.”
Taking a deep breath Lex nodded at his father. “I guess I should go talk to Chloe now and let her know what’s going on.”
Lionel put his hand on Lex’s shoulder, “everything will work out fine.” With a smile Lex left his father and headed off to find his wife.
“How did it go?” asked Lillian as she entered the room.
“It went well,” he replied, “although I think I nearly gave him a heart attack when I told him. He’s gone to tell Chloe.”
“He will do fine,” she said, “they both will.”
“I know, I just wish I hadn’t been forced into handing over power so soon.”
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Lex found Chloe in their room; she was lying on the bed. “Hey,” she said when she heard him come in. He sat down beside her. “What’s wrong Lex?”
“My father has just informed me that as of tomorrow I will be acting as co-regent with him, and that the official announcement will be made along with the one about your pregnancy.”
“Did you just say co-regent?”
Lex nodded. “Oh wow Lex that is amazing, what an incredible honour for you.”
He couldn’t help but smile; only Chloe would see the good side to it first. “My father has sort of been forced into doing this.” At her confused expression her went on to explain to her what his father had said.
“But it’s not serious,” she said when he had finished.
“No, but it could get serious which is why this is happening.”
Chloe wrapped her arms around Lex and hugged him tightly. “You will be fine Lex, and you know I will help you as much as I can.”
“I know you will my love, and believe me I will be depending on you.”
“There isn’t anything else I’d rather do,” she said before kissing him gently. They fell back onto the bed and curled up around each other. ‘I’ll get through this with Chloe,’ he thought.
Chapter Forty – A New Player in Town
“My lady I have some news,” said Justin as he rushed into Victoria Hardwick’s room.
“Well, out with it,” she snapped. She had been back in Metropolis a week and every day duke Kent and duke Ross had called by asking her the same questions about the day count Fordman had been killed.
“I don’t think you’re going to like it but here it is,” began Justin. “Next week on the king’s birthday two announcements will be made. The first is that Price Lex has been named co-regent, now I don’t know the reasons behind this but apparently the transfer over power has already started and next week is just the official announcement.”
“MMM so king Lionel is getting ready to hand the reins over to Lex,” murmured Victoria, “and the second announcement?”
Justin took a deep breath before answering. “The second announcement is that the princess is pregnant.”
“WHAT?” exclaimed Victoria. “Damn it, a royal pregnancy. They didn’t waste any time. Please tell me you have good news as well Justin.”
“Yes my lady,” he replied. “I have found the perfect person to carry out your *mission* and they are more than willing to do it.”
“Excellent, I was beginning to wonder if we would ever find anybody. Tell me everything and if I’m happy we’ll arrange the meeting.”
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“Hello stranger,” grinned Clark as he and Pete strolled into the throne room. Lex looked up from a table littered with various royal decrees and announcements.
“That looks like fun,” commented Pete, as they got closer.
“I have seriously being considering abdicating,” muttered Lex. He couldn’t believe it; he had never realised the amount and scope of work his father did. The king looked after everything from the health and well being of the subjects, to settling disputes between neighbours, protecting Metropolis from attacks, residing over the court, both social and legal. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Lex had been co-regent for almost two weeks and during that time he had spent hardly any time with his wife. They usually spoke in the evenings and by then Lex was too tired to do anything else.
“That bad,” asked Clark.
“I just never realised all the work that went into running a kingdom. My opinion of my father, and my mother has just gone through the roof. I mean they’ve been doing this for over twenty years.”
“And how has that lovely pregnant wife of yours being handling your absence?”
“Chloe has been just amazing as always,” said Lex with a smile. “She is just so understanding. I mean she’s pregnant, and not feeling great at the moment and yet she’s still there every evening staying up late so she can help me go through things.”
“So I guess there is no chance of dragging you away for a couple of hours,” said Pete.
“No chance,” answered Lex. “*If* I manage to get some free time I will be spending it with Chloe. Oh have you managed to get anything new out of Victoria?”
“Not a thing,” sighed Clark. “It’s been the same story every day. Ok it does sound rehearsed but she hasn’t changed it do there isn’t really anything else we can do. But like you said I do think she will slip up it’s just a matter of when.”
“And when she does we’ll be there to catch her out,” added Pete.
“Good, because I have a very nice spot in the dungeon all picked out for her,” said Lex.
“Lex you left these…” Chloe’s voice trailed off as she saw Clark and Pete in the room with Lex. “Hello gentlemen,” she said with a smile.
“Highness,” they both said with a bow. “How are you feeling these days?” asked Clark.
“Better some days,” she replied. “I’m enjoying my clothes fitting me at the moment, because that will all change soon.”
“Yes, I seem to remember overhearing my mother talking about arranging the dress makers to come in and make you some maternity clothes,” said Lex with a smirk.
“Great,” muttered Chloe, “because we all know how much I *love* the dress makers.”
“Well Lex if you’re busy we’ll leave you to it,” said Pete. “We’ll call back later.”
“Ok then, bye,” he said. Echoed by Chloe. The two men left the room.
“Anyway you left these upstairs,” said Chloe, handing some papers over to Lex. “Just what I needed, more work,” he said with a sigh.
With a smile Chloe sat on his lap. “You are doing fine Lex,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’s going to take you time to get use to all this.”
Lex wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m sorry I haven’t really been around,” he said, kissing her neck. He moved a hand to her stomach and rubbed it gently. “Don’t worry about it,” she whispered. He lifted his head and kissed her gently. “I love you,” he murmured against her lips.
“I love you too,” she murmured back, and the kiss became passionate. Their tongues duelled and Lex moved his hand to cup her breast through her dress causing her to moan softly into his mouth.
“I want to make love to you so badly,” he whispered when they parted. “Think you’d be missed if we disappeared for an hour,” she said with a grin.
“Probably,” he said with a groan as her hand found it’s way to the front of his pants. She rubbed him gently. “Well I am one of your subjects,” she said as she kissed his neck, “ and I need some very *personal* attention.”
Lex put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her mouth back to his, their lips and tongues clashed. “Let’s get out of here,” he panted when they parted. Chloe jumped up from his lap and took his hand. As they left the throne room they bumped into one of the king’s advisors.
“Highness,” he said, “we need to go over…”
“Later,” snapped Lex, “I have something to take care of.” He brushed past him, dragging a laughing Chloe with him. They practically ran up the stairs. And the moment they got into their room Chloe gasped loudly as she felt her dress being pulled from her.
“At least an hour,” she moaned as Lex began kissing his way to her nipples.
“Maybe even three hours,” he muttered back.
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“And you completely understand what is requested from you,” said Victoria.
“I *have* done this before,” the other person replied. “I know exactly what you want done. And you do understand that this is going to cost you big. We are talking about a crown prince and princess."
“Your fee is not a problem. And you are aware that the princess is pregnant.”
“Yes, and again that is not a problem. I have no qualms about killing a pregnant woman.”
“Perfect,” said Victoria clapping her hands together. “Now I would like this finished as soon as possible but you are the professional and I’m sure you work at your own pace.”
“I will need some of the money now. I need to get some things to help me *look* the part.”
“Justin will see that you get it, and also he is to be your contact if you should need anything else. And he is the person you will give your updates too.”
“I will make my appearance at the palace during the announcements on the king’s birthday. Believe me Lady Hardwick, the Luthors won’t know what hit them.”
“I’m counting on that *Lady* Helen Bryce,” replied Victoria, “I’m counting on it.”
Chapter Forty One – Bad Feelings
Helen Bryce stood towards the back of the crowd as the king made his speech. She glanced over the royal party standing on the platform. Her gaze lingered on the prince. She had never seen Lex before and she liked what she saw. ‘Very sexy,’ she thought. She moved her eyes to the princess who was standing close to him. Helen looked down to see the slight bump protruding from her dress indicating her pregnancy. ‘Pretty enough I suppose.’
She had heard a lot about the prince. Most of it came from Victoria Hardwick, but some for various people around Metropolis. She knew he had been very much the ladies man before getting married, but that he had definitely settled into the role of husband since then. She also learned that he was very popular among the people of the kingdom and that Chloe was as well.
She glanced around the area again taking note of the number of guards around the place. Since the abduction earlier of the princess, there had been an increase in security around the palace. Deep down Helen didn’t care about Victoria’s reasons for wanting revenge, this was a job to her and she was getting paid for it. And she was good at her job, because no one ever suspected her because she was a woman.
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Lana watched the unfamiliar woman stare and the prince and princess, especially the prince. ‘I don’t like the look of her,’ she thought. Her attention was dragged back to the king who was explaining the duties Lex was taking over from him. Lana smiled as she looked at Chloe, she could hardly believe how things had changed since King Gabe had announced the marriage. Now the prince and princess were in love and expecting their first child.
‘And I’m a lady-in-waiting,’ she added to herself. She glanced around and caught Duke Kent’s eye. He smiled at her and she smiled shyly back. Since her *promotion* she had spent a bit of time with the handsome duke, just walks mainly, but she really enjoyed his company.
She glanced back at the mysterious woman and saw that she was still focussed on the prince. With a frown Lana decided to talk to the princess about it later.
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“Thank the heavens that is over,” said Lex as he sat down.
“Not quite how you pictured it would be,” said Lionel with a smile. “Is it?”
“Not even close,” replied Lex. “I think I’d like it to be how I imagined it would be when I was seven.”
“You are doing very well Lex. I am very proud of you.” Lionel said sincerely.
Lex couldn’t help the smile that graced his face or the incredible feeling that flowed through his body at hearing those words come from his father. “Thank you,” he said. “That means a lot.”
“It’s the truth son. You have handled everything so well; you’ve made your own decisions and stood by them. You’ve managed to upset most of the advisors, which is always a good thing. I have to admit to deriving pleasure from upsetting them myself.”
“Yes there is a perverse sense of satisfaction is doing that,” agreed Lex, and both men started laughing. “How have you being feeling lately?” he asked his father.
“I feel great,” he replied. “I’ve been enjoying spending a lot more time with your mother and the increased talks and walks with your lovely wife. I am very much looking forward to becoming a grandfather.”
“Yes Chloe has said you’ve been taking a great interest in the baby.”
“I just want to make sure everything goes well,” replied Lionel with a smirk. “Anyway can’t let your mother have all the *fun* organising everything.”
“Am I been spoken about?” said Lillian as she came up beside her husband.
“It’s all good, so don’t worry mother.”
“I should hope so,” she replied with a grin.
“Sorry to disturb you majesty,” said a servant to Lionel. “But there is a Lady Helen Bryce asking to speak with you.”
“Never heard of her,” he said, a sentiment echoed by Lillian Lex. “Very well,” he said to the servant, “show here in.”
With a bow the servant left. “I wonder what this is all about,” commented Lionel to the others. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” replied Lex.
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“Highness, may I have a word with you?” asked Lana.
“Sure Lana,” replied Chloe with a smile, “come on in.” Chloe sat up on the bed as the girl entered the room. “So what is it you want to talk about?”
“I’m not sure how to put this, or even if it needs to be said,” began Lana.
“Just tell me,” said Chloe gently, “and we’ll decide if it’s important.”
“Earlier today when the king was giving his speech I noticed a woman at the back of the crowd staring intently at the prince. I’ve never seen her before around the court but she was dressed like a lady.”
“My husband is very pleasing on the eye Lana, a lot of women stare at him,” replied Chloe with a grin.
“It’s not just that highness,” continued Lana. “She was staring at you as well, and I don’t know…I just thought there was something…odd about her. You think it’s silly.”
“I didn’t say that Lana, it does sound a little strange though. But I will mention it to Lex and see if anyone knows anything about her.”
“Thank you highness, I am sure it’s nothing. But after everything that happened lately…” she trailed off.
“I understand Lana and thank you for bringing it to my attention.”
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“So Lady Bryce let me get this straight,” said Lex; “you are looking for…sanctuary, for want of a better word, until this man that killed your husband can be apprehended.”
The woman nodded. Lex sat back in his chair. She had come in asking for help. Her husband had been murdered and she was fleeing from the as yet unknown killer and wanted the protection of the palace. Apart from having serious doubts about her story, Lex didn’t like the woman; there was something about her that just didn’t sit right with him.
His caught his father’s eye and could see a similar expression of disbelief and distrust on his face. “Well Lady Bryce,” he said, turning his attention back to the woman in question, “we can offer you the use of one of the small houses on the palace estate if that is too your liking.”
“Oh highness that is most kind of you,” she said to him, injecting a flirty tone to her voice.
Just then the door opened and Chloe came in followed by Lana. The brunette spotted the woman sitting close to Lex. “Highness,” she whispered to Chloe, “that is the woman I was telling you about.”
Chloe said nothing and headed over to Lex and the others. “Hi,” said Lex with a smile. And Helen watched closely how Lex’s demeanour changed when his wife walked in. Chloe smiled at him and kissed him gently.
“Chloe, this is Lady Helen Bryce,” he said, introducing them.
“Highness,” she said, standing to curtsey.
“Lady Bryce,” said Chloe.
“Well,” said Lillian, and motioned to a guard to come over. “Please show Lady Bryce to the cottage around by the stables,” she said to him.
“Yes majesty,” he replied. “This way Lady Bryce,” he said, addressing the woman. With a few more very gracious expressions of thank you she left with the guard.
“I’ll tell you later,” said Lex to Chloe’s questioning expression.
“Good,” she replied, “because I want to discuss something with you as well.” She had only met the woman very briefly, but Chloe already had a very bad feeling about *Lady* Helen Bryce.
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