I own nothing. This is just my idea of what I thought Clarke might be thinking about during her first meeting with Lexa.
"If you so much as look at her wrong way, I will slit your throat," said a muscular grounder. He was at least a foot taller. The black war paint on his face makes him look twice as fearsome looking. Though I suppose that is the point. He turned and walked to the tent entrance and held it open for me. I took a deep breath before walking into the tent.
Just inside the tent there was another grounder standing there. This one had a mask on. Why do some of the grounders wear masks and others wear the war paint? Is it a ranking system or is it just personal preference? I make a note to ask Octavia when things settle down.
As I walk more fully into the tent I finally get my first glimpse at the commander. She is lounging on what looks to be a throne. She has another guard to her left, but my eyes stay focused on the woman on the throne. I'm slightly taken aback by how young she is. She looks like she is my age; maybe a few years older. She is very beautiful, even with the paint on her face, it somehow enhances her beauty. I find myself briefly wondering what she looks like without the paint on. Keep it together, Clarke. You are here to try and stop a war; not lust after the woman trying to kill us all. I have to convince the commander, Lexa, I absently think that is what Jaha said her name was.
The commander is turning the dagger in her hand over and has yet to look up at me. The dagger in her hand continues to move. That is kind of intimidating, I have no doubt that if she decided to throw it at me, she wouldn't miss. Okay, I can do this. I remind myself. Show no fear. Act confident. It was the same advice I had given my mom earlier in the day.
Still without looking up at me the commander starts to speak, "You're the one who burned three hundred of my warriors alive." She is still playing with the dagger in her hands.
Without thinking I shot back, "You're the one who sent them there to kill us." That gets her attention and she finally looks up. She has green eyes; the paint makes the green shine brighter. She stabs the dagger against the arm of the throne. Another thinly veiled threat. She does it show me who is the real power in the tent and to remind me that I have no weapon.
"Do you have an answer for me, Clarke of the Sky People?" she asks.
This is the moment. I have to make her take this offer or we are all going to die, "I have come to make you an offer."
"This is not a negotiation," the commander flatly responds.
The woman next to her begins to speak in the grounder language, "teik ai frag em op en de disha odon kom." I don't know what she said, but the commander puts her hand up and the woman instantly falls silent.
I take advantage of the silence and throw out my end of the offer, "I can help you beat the mountain men."
She puts the dagger back on her lap. I can tell I have her attention before she says, "Go on."
"Hundreds of your people are trapped inside Mount Weather, kept in cages. Their blood is used as medicine." As I explain the conditions of the grounders, the commander and the other grounders in the tent begin to look angrier.
"How do you know this?" she demands.
"Because I saw them. My people are prisoners there too. I was one of them."
"Lies. No one escapes the mountain." The woman on the commanders left side states.
"I did. With Anya. We fought our way out together."
"Another lie," the woman insists then adds, "Anya died in the fire. You killed her." She isn't completely wrong. Anya didn't die in that fire at the dropship, but by dragging her all the way back to Camp Jaha I did get her killed.
Without thinking I put my hand in my jacket pocket. I immediately notice that every grounder tenses and all of the guards grip the handle of their weapons more firmly. I can hear a few begin to leave the sheath they were in. The commander only cocks her head up and looks on with curiosity. She doesn't seem to grip the blade in her hand any tighter. I lock eyes on her and pull out Anya's braid and show it to her and explain why I have it. "She told me you were her second. I'm sure she'd want you to have it."
I start towards her to give it to her. She looks at the braid; looks almost lost in thought. I think I was right to bring it. I wasn't sure if the grounders would look at my bringing it as sign of respect or insult. After I woke up in Camp Jaha, I went to where the guard had put Anya's body and I cut a braid off the same way I had seen her do with her second a few weeks ago. The commander seems to appreciate the gesture.
The woman next to her says, "We don't know it's her."
Before I can try to persuade the commander it really is Anya, she tells the woman something in their language. The woman falls quiet again.
"Anya was my mentor before I was called to lead my people." It sounds like they were close. The commander places the braid next to her on the arm of the throne and still looking at the braid asks, "Did she die well?"
"Yes." I answer honestly. She didn't fear dying. I wish I could have saved her. "By my side, trying to get a message to you." I should have gotten Anya to agree to my plan after our fight at the dropship. If we had gone our separate ways then, she'd still be alive. We might have been able to stop this impeding war between our people.
"What message?" asks the commander.
"The only way to save both our people is if we join together."
"Those who are about to die will say anything." Says the woman. It sounded like the commander called her Indra earlier.
"I'm still waiting for an offer, Clarke." My name sounds nice coming from those lips.
I go in for my pitch hoping it will be enough. "The Mountain Men are turning your people into reapers. I can turn them back."
"Impossible," shouts Indra. Then she starts to speak in the grounder language again, "Heda, ai beg yu teik ai frag em op."
I continue hoping the commander will side with me, "I've done it, with Lincoln."
That seems to really set Indra off. She rushes from the commander's side at me pulling at her sword as she comes at me, "That traitor is the reason my village was slaughtered…"
"Indra…" starts the commander calmly, but Indra keeps yelling in my face about the village Finn slaughtered.
"Emplenti." Shouts the commander and she stands in front of her throne. Indra stares at me another second or two before moving behind me and falling silent.
The commander is walking towards me, slowly. It would be hot if I wasn't so worried I might not leave this tent alive. She stops a few feet in front of me and says, "You say you can turn reapers back into men?"
I nod once and say, "Yes."
"Then prove it. Show me Lincoln."
I nod again and turn to leave the tent. I hear the commander and the other grounders begin to follow me. I got the commander to at least be open to the idea of a truce, but now I begin to worry about whether my mom was able to keep Lincoln alive. I close my eyes for a moment and silently pray she was able to keep Lincoln alive or we will all die. When I open my eyes I purposefully walk towards the dropship.
Translations:
teik ai frag em op en de disha odon kom- Let me kill her and get this over with
Heda, ai beg yu teik ai frag em op.- Commander, I beg you let me kill her.
Emplenti- Enough