A/N: This is the first time i received a prompt and i can't believe that i got it done in under 24 hours. so, Nia's alive and she's...well a bitch. And Clexa are together, things are okay between Arkadia and the grounders because Pike does not exist in this fic.
It had been two days now, two days since Clarke had disappeared. Things had finally settled down with the Sky People and the coalition and Clarke and Lexa were finally getting some time to themselves. Clarke had remained in Polis as the 13th Clan's ambassador but she wanted to go back to Arkadia for a couple of days. There was no harm in it, Lexa knew it had been a while since Clarke had seen her mother and friends and with everything at peace in Polis, she didn't see why not. It was a long way from Polis to Arkadia and Lexa had made sure Clarke did not go alone, sending two of her guards with her. They were meant to return after Clarke had reached Arkadia because she planned to stay there a couple of days.
But the next morning when her guards did not return, Lexa expected something to have gone wrong. A part of her started to panic, suddenly worried about Clarke but another part of her knew that panic wouldn't get her anywhere right now. She didn't wait long, Lexa sent rider to Arkadia to ask about Clarke, to find out whether or not she was there. Only problem was that it would take a long time. It took roughly 4 hours to get to Arkadia from Polis and that was time Lexa didn't have right now. Nonetheless, she waited patiently, sitting on her throne and unintentionally glaring at everyone who walked into the room.
Once the riders had returned with no news of Clarke, Lexa started to worry, something had to be wrong. She had sent out search parties because not only was Clarke missing but so were her guards. No, Clarke wouldn't go off on her own but even if she did, her guards would've returned. So it had been two days of not sleeping, not eating, not so much as being in her bedroom longer than she needed to be because everything in there reminded her off Clarke. It was getting harder and harder with every passing hour, Lexa couldn't help Clarke when she didn't even know where she was. Surprisingly, she had managed to keep her cool, not blowing off on anyone and everyone who spoke to her. She had been spending most of her time in the throne room, hoping for someone to walk in that knew anything about Clarke.
But today…it was becoming a bit too difficult to keep her emotions in check. It had been long enough and she really needed to find Clarke, it was driving her crazy. Lexa let her head fall on her hands, she was frustrated to say the least and she wanted to do something, anything, to help Clarke, wherever she was.
"Heda!"
Lexa head snapped up at the sudden noise as she watched Titus walk into the room with two guards behind him. They looked hurt, bruised and bleeding and barely walking properly. She recognized them instantly, they were the two men she had sent with Clarke. Lexa sat up straight, looking at them questioningly. "What is it?" She asked, soundly oddly calm.
"Azgeda." One of the men replied from behind Titus.
Lexa stood up at that, "What?" She asked, watching him carefully.
"Azgeda took us." The other man replied. "Wanheda too."
She tilted her head slightly, clasping her hands behind her back before asking again, "What?" Lexa could feel the anger building inside her, as much as she wanted to keep herself under control, it wasn't working right now. "Where is she now?"
"Queen Nia has her." Titus replied for them.
"And how are the two of you here then?" Lexa asked, the anger in her voice apparent now.
"She let us go." One of them replied. "So we could deliver a message."
"What message?" Her voice was low and quiet but intimidating enough for the two men to avert their eyes. She waited for them to speak but they didn't, neither of them wanting to. "WHAT MESSAGE?" Lexa yelled, taking a step towards them.
The two guards exchanged worried looks, neither of them wanting to be the one to tell her what Nia had said.
"What. Message." She asked again, taking another step towards them and waiting for someone to tell her what was going on.
"She said…Wanheda had the misfortune of being loved by the commander." One of them finally spoke up, his voice low and almost scared.
"And that is why she is going to meet the same fate Costia did." The other guard continued.
Lexa turned around facing her back to the men almost calmly before it all came crashing down. She let out a scream which even made the two guards take a step back as her feet kicked the small table to the side with a few unlit candles. She brought up a hand, slowly running it down her face as she let out a frustrated sigh, trying to calm herself down. "Send word to Queen Nia," She spoke a moment later, her back still facing them. "Tell her she was three hours to let Clarke go or I will storm her castle and make sure no one inside makes it out alive."
There was something in the way she'd said it that sent a chill down the spines of her two guards. "Sha, Heda." They said quietly, stepping towards the door to do as she had asked.
"Send word to the army." Lexa said to Titus once they had left. "I won't need too many men."
Titus let out a small sigh, stepping closer to her, "Lexa, think about this for a momen-"
"Think about what?" She spat out, turning around to face him as Titus froze to his spot. "Think about how Nia plans to torture and kill Clarke?" Lexa asked rhetorically, her voice rising with every word. "Or about how she's going to send her back to me?" She clenched her jaws, glaring at Titus as she felt tears stinging the back of her eyes, "I'm not making the same mistake twice."
"But-"
"BUT NOTHING." She yelled back. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF EVERYONE THINKING THAT CLARKE IS A WEAKNESS. AND I WILL NOT JUST STAND HERE AND WAIT FOR NIA TO KILL HER." Lexa waited for Titus to say something, her chest heaving as she caught her breath, no, she wasn't going to let Nia take away someone she loved, not again. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Lexa spoke, quieter this time "If you say she was taken because of me, I-"
"But you know it's true." Titus interrupted, standing still. "Because if you hadn't fallen in love with her, Nia wouldn't have been able to use her against you."
Lexa looked like she was prepared to rip his head clean off his shoulders but instead she remained still, watching him carefully. "Get out." She finally said. "Either you inform the army or send Jonathan."
Titus remained on his spot for a moment before walking away, not wanting to say anything else to Lexa right now.
She remained silent for a moment, waiting until the door had closed behind Titus before knocking off the other table with candles on it. Nia wasn't going to get away with it this time, she had already taken enough from Lexa and maybe she was letting her feelings cloud her judgment but right now, Lexa didn't care. Love is weakness. She could almost hear Titus's voice inside her head but she was sick of hearing that, sick of people thinking that she was weak just for loving someone. And Lexa couldn't really take it again, she couldn't handle losing Clarke too, no, she had already lost way too much. Nevertheless, a part of her did blame herself for Clarke being taken. As much as she didn't want to agree with Titus, a part of her knew that he was right, Clarke wouldn't have been taken if it weren't for her.
.
Lexa found herself marching through the hallways of the Ice Castle towards Nia's throne room exactly three hours later (it would've been sooner but that's how long it took to ride from Polis to Azgeda). She hadn't agreed to give up Clarke and Lexa was nearing the end of her patience by now. But she hadn't started killing everyone in sight the moment she'd entered despite wanting to. As much as Azgeda resented her, Lexa knew they were smart enough to not try and attack her when she arrived. Her army – small, not even a hundred men – was waiting outside of Azgeda's border, Lexa deciding she could probably take care of this herself without people needing to die over it, so she had gone to see Nia with only a handful of her men behind her.
"Where is she?" Lexa demanded as she walked up to Nia's throne.
Nia sat still with a satisfied smirk, not saying anything as she watched Lexa approach her.
"WHERE IS SHE?" Lexa yelled at her, stepping up on the podium where the throne was.
"Are your feelings getting the better of you Commander?" Nia asked calmly.
Lexa didn't have the patience to say anything, she only unsheathed her sword, taking a step back as she extended her arm, pointing the blade at the queen's throat. She didn't have to look around to know Nia's guards had unsheathed their swords as well, which meant her men had too. "Tell me," Lexa started, pressing the tip of her blade on Nia's throat. "Where is she?" She asked her, her voice coming out in a low, threatening growl as her lips curled up slightly into a snarl as it did when she was angry.
"Who are you asking about?" Nia asked calmly.
"Wanheda." Lexa replied, looking down at Nia. "The 13th Clan's ambassador."
"You mean your lover?"
Lexa couldn't help it, she pressed her sword down a bit harder. "Where. Is. She."
"What makes you think she's still alive?" She asked, her voice nothing if not calm.
"You better hope she is." Lexa replied, her voice returning to a growl. "Or I will personally make sure you live to regret it." She continued as she pressed the blade deeper, watching as it started to cut into Nia's skin.
Nia swallowed, realizing that maybe this time, Lexa was serious. "Dungeon, downstairs." She finally answered.
"Take me there." Lexa ordered, moving her sword up, causing Nia to have to stand up. "Ask your men to put their weapons away or this will not end well."
.
Surprisingly, they did as Lexa had asked before they made their way down to the cells under the Ice Castle. Lexa still had her men behind her and Nia only a step in front of her, leading the way. Although it was cold since they had gotten here, Lexa realized the dungeons were a lot colder than the rest of the castle. Making their way past a few empty cells, Lexa realized even the prisoners' cells in Polis were in better condition than this dark, damp place. And the thought of Clarke being down here…it made her feel sick.
There was a small light coming from the cell they were approaching, a candle burning right outside it as a man stood guard. It didn't take Lexa long to notice the blonde inside, curled on the floor with her back to the door of the cell. "Clarke?" The word left her mouth before she could stop herself. "Open it, now." Lexa said to Nia impatiently.
The guard by the cell looked a little confused, not knowing what was happening right now but when Nia asked him to unlock it, he did. Lexa waited a moment for one of her men to step up behind Nia before rushing inside to Clarke.
"Clarke?" She asked gently, kneeling down next to her. "Hey, it's me." Lexa reached out, placing her hand on Clarke's arm, finally getting her attention.
Clarke turned around in a flash, pulling herself away as she did so. She retreated as far back as she could, her back now against the wall as her eyes adjusted to the dim light.
"It's me." Lexa tried again, her voice quiet and gentle, the complete opposite of what it was when she was talking to Nia. "Lexa." She watched Clarke with concern, not moving closer because it might startle her.
"Lexa?" Clarke asked after a moment.
"Yes." She nodded, slowly moving closer to her.
Clarke threw her arms around her, holding on as tightly as she could. She let out a sigh of relief when she felt Lexa's arms come up around her. It was comforting to say the least, after the last two days, Lexa's arms around her felt like a lifeline and Clarke was desperate to not let go.
"It's okay Clarke." Lexa muttered to her. "You're okay." She continued, as she heard a sharp intake of breath.
"Lexa," Clarke gasped out, letting the tears fall as the tips of her finger dug into Lexa's back, wanting to be as close to her as possible.
"You're safe." Lexa said to her, her arms tightening around her. She knew her men were probably staring right now, but she couldn't get herself to care about it. "She can't hurt you anymore."
Clarke was tired, her entire body aching and all she wanted right now was to be in Lexa's arms and just forget about everything else. "Take me home." Clarke said to her, bringing her head up.
Lexa nodded, helping her up. "Arkadia?"
Clarke shook her head, "Polis."
A/N: So you can probably tell, i kinda rushed with this but oh well. i might add another chapter to it just because i feel like i could add a bit more to it. also, send me more prompts on tumblr (k17l53 x Tumblr x com) and thanks for reading :)