"I'm sorry Clarke, they weren't part of the deal." Lexa spoke in an even, emotionless voice while her hands shook and she fought to keep herself in place "But - I - We" Clarke stumbled over the words, her eyes filling with tears as she watched Lexa turn and stalk away until the Commander was gone, her army following
"Heda" Indra spoke cautiously once they entered the Commanders tent, "You done what was best for our, your, people"
"I know. What are we going to do about the Mountain Men?" The commander voice was tight and her face void of any emotions
"What do you mean, Heda?" A chieftain asked, "We have our people back"
"Jus drein jus daun. They have killed hundreds, thousands of our own. Blood must have blood."
The chieftain's spoke for what felt like an entire age to Lexa, who was seated on her throne barely listening to them speak
"Heda?" Indra's voice broke through, "Heda?"
Lexa couldn't hear a word that was being said to her, her mind was trapped in the memory that happened not even an hour ago of leaving Clarke on the mountain. Lexa knew that Clarke wouldn't leave if her people, all of her people, were with her. Lexa knew that Clarke would die tonight because of her actions. Unbeknown to Lexa, her entire body was shaking while Indra and the chieftains watched on in fear for their commander
"Did they poison her?" The chieftain from the desert asked
"Heda?" Indra repeated a little more forcefully, getting no answer
"She is weak" The chieftain from the Ice lands snarled, receiving a strong hit from Indra that nearly knocked the chieftain to the ground. The sound of flesh on flesh seemed to shake Lexa from her mind to see Indra squaring off with the ice chieftain
"Stand down" Lexa said quietly "Stand down now or face the consequences" Lexa repeated when she seen the ice chieftain standing defiantly, putting her hand on the hilt of her sword,
"Get out. Get out now."
The chieftains could see the commander shaking like a leaf in the winter winds and the pure anger in her eyes and left without argument, passing two guards stationed outside of the tent. Just as the last chieftain left, they hard banging and crashing from the other side of the tent flaps, followed by yells of anger and screams of frustration. The guards looked at each other and then at Indra who simply shook their head and gestured for them to stay where they were.
On the other side of the tent Lexa had flipped the war table, she had punched holes in various solid objects which left her knuckles bloodied and bruised and she was in the midst of attacking her throne with her sword. The sword left deep gouges in the massive chair until she had hacked at it enough that it was near unrecognisable and she moved onto everything else in the room. By the time that she had dropped her sword she had no surviving furniture left and there were various holes in her tent that would need to be seen too but in that moment of time Lexa wasn't thinking about that, she couldn't, all that was on her mind was Clarke. Clarke. The girl she cared for most in this world, the only girl that dared challenge her time and time again. Clarke, her only equal in this world. Dead. She had gotten her killed. She had killed her love for the sake of her people. Lexa's chest was heaving with the struggle she was having breathing, Clarke, Clarke, Clarke, her mind shouted at her without fail. Dead, just like Costia. Would she receive Clarkes head as well? The thought of it alone hurt more than receiving Costia's head. Lexa falls to her knees with a painful thud, twists her hands in her head and screams. Screams for all the people she lost. Screams for her brother, her mother and father. Screams for Anya. Screams for Costia. Screams for Clarke. She screamed until her throat couldn't take it and she could taste blood in her mouth and her chest was burning. Her screams turn to gasping breaths as she clutched her chest in an attempt to breath but she couldn't. She couldn't breath when she knew Clarke wouldn't be by the end of the night. She could feel her eyes burning but she wasn't crying, why wasn't she crying? She had thrown her love to the river and sold the last human part of herself. She had never hated anyone the way she hates herself in this moment, not the nation who cut Costia's head off, not the Mountain Men for hunting, killing, making her people into monsters for as long as anyone could remember, not the people who took her family, not the people who killed Anya. Clarke, Clarke, Clarke, the name played through her head without pause, images of the girls face flooded her mind and memories of the kiss they shared burnt her eyes. Clarke, Clarke, Clarke. She screamed again, she screamed Clarkes name she was sure the Mountain Men could hear her, she screamed and screamed trying to drown out the name, the images and the kiss.
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
She repeated to herself enough the words tasted foul and sounded foreign "Hodnes laik kwelnes."
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
She had to force herself to believe it, she had to believe it or she would order her army straight back to the mountain. Straight back to Clarke.
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
"Hodnes laik kwelnes."
She repeated it until a voice broke through, a voice so similar that it pained her, a voice she never wanted to hear again and a voice that she wanted to listen to for the rest of her life
"No, Hodnes laik uf" Clarke's voice whispered and suddenly that's all she could hear. She couldn't hear her people shouting, she couldn't hear her erratic breaths, she couldn't hear anything but Clarkes voice "Hodnes laik uf and jus drein jus daun"
Love is power and blood must have blood
"Hodnes laik uf and jus drein jus daun"
She needed to go back to the mountain
"Hodnes laik uf and jus drein jus daun"
"Heda" A voice shouted when Lexa left the tent "Heda"
"Heda"
"Heda" was repeated through the crowd until Lexa held her fist above her head to silence them
"_I am returning to the mountain. I will not run from the Mountain Men any longer, they have hunted us, they have killed us, they have killed small children and the elderly, they have preformed disgusting experiments on us and turned us into monsters. I say no more. Jus drein jus daun. I will not hide. I will not let our peoples deaths go unanswered. I will not leave the Sky People to die. This is not an order. Whoever joins me must come on their own free will, those who choose not to join will not face consequences. Who is with me?" _Lexa finished with a strong yell, getting a deafening roar back in response as warrior after warrior gathered their weapons and healers grabbed their kits and archers picked up every spare arrow they had. The dead are gone and the living are hungry.