A guard came into the tent to inform Lexa that Clarke of the Sky People sought an audience with her. Gustus and Indra counselled her against it.
'Heda, there is nothing to be said, they either leave or they die' Indra insisted.
'They may be sending her to accept our conditions,' Lexa replied calmly as she took her seat on her throne. 'I will receive her' Lexa addressed this to Gustus.
Lexa had her doubts; if they were sending their leader to talk to her there was something more to this. Would they be foolish enough to ask for mercy when she had already given them more than perhaps was wise? The voices calling for the death to all Sky People were loud, Indra being the loudest of them all. It had been her people who had been slaughtered like cattle in that village. Lexa had gathered all the information she could from Kane, Jaha and the witnesses at the village to find out what really happened. She came to the conclusion that the attack had been the result of a rogue element and not from the Sky People's leadership itself. This...Finn was the sole responsible agent for the attack according to her sources. Although her people did not see it that way. Indra did not see it that way. To them the Sky People had brought war with them the second they landed in their world. Lexa understood that these people were acclimatising themselves to a new situation but that just made them even more dangerous. These people were unknown denominators in the field of play. Anya had underestimated them and it had ended in her death.
The tent flap opened to reveal Gustus and a blond girl in a blue jacket. Lexa guessed she was probably a few years younger than herself. She had obviously been beaten recently and very badly, as her wounds were in the halfway stage of healing. But even in this state Lexa reluctantly acknowledged that the girl was beautiful. She had received reports from her agents of this Clarke Griffin. She seemed to be the leader of the younger Sky People and was a great healer. Lexa had sent three hundred of her best warriors to deal with the first Sky People and was told that all that remained of them now was a pile of ash. This woman had caused so much trouble, so much death. She had killed Anya, her mentor and friend. But Lexa would not allow that to get in the way of these proceedings. She had proven to herself and to everyone else that she never allowed her personal losses to get in the way of her leadership.
'Your the one who killed three hundred of my warriors' Lexa addressed Clarke. She handled her knife, a thinly veiled threat.
'Your the one who sent them there to kill us' Clarke replied boldly.
Lexa was mildly impressed. Clarke held her ground well for a person in an enemy camp and in a very vulnerable position.
'Do you have an answer for me, Clarke of the Sky People?' Were these Sky people going to leave or fight? Lexa wondered.
'I've come to make you an offer'
Lexa was surprised by that. What did they think they could barter with against the cost of eighteen innocent lives?
'This is not a negotiation' Lexa replied with a steely gaze.
'Let me kill her and get this over with' Indra advised Lexa in Trigedaslang.
Lexa held up her hand to silence her. She wanted to hear what these people had to say.
'I can help you beat the Mountain Men' Clarke stated in a rush.
'Go on' Lexa replied coolly. She was intrigued.
'Hundreds of your people are trapped inside Mount Weather, kept in cages. Their blood is used as medicine' Clarke declared.
Another surprising pronouncement, could this be true? Lexa wondered.
'How to do know this' She demanded to know.
'Because I saw them, my people are prisoners there too. I was one of them'
'Lies, no one escapes the Mountain' Indra exclaimed in disbelief, this time in English.
'I did, with Anya' Clarke stated with conviction 'We fought are way out together'
Was it possible? Or a manipulation? Lexa wondered.
'Another lie, Anya died in the fire, you killed her' Indra growled.
Clarke reached into her pocket to retrieve something and everyone in the room tensed. Lexa doubted there would be any kind of assassination attempt but these Sky people were unpredictable. Gustus and the guards took hold of their weapons; they were prepared for any threat. Clarke pulled from her pocket very slowly, a hair braid.
'She told me you were her second, I'm sure she would want you to have this' Clarke came slowly towards Lexa, clearly weary of Gustus and the armed guards. She handed the braid to her.
Lexa took the hair braid offered to her from Clarke. There was no question about it, it was Anya's. Lexa had spent five years as Anya's apprentice. Every morning she had brushed and braided Anya's hair into intricate designs. She knew better than anyone what it looked like.
'We don't know it's hers' Indra implied.
'Shop op Indra' Lexa brushed the accusation aside. She was convinced that Clarke was telling the truth, Anya didn't die in that fire.
'Anya was my mentor, before I was called to lead my people' Lexa confirmed. The Mountain had killed Anya, that thought did nothing to change the sadness Lexa had over her mentor's death. She thought of how the last thing Anya would have remembered of her was giving her command over to Tristain. She would have felt betrayed.
'Did she die well?' Lexa averted her eyes, betraying for the briefest moment an emotion. She hoped that Anya was at least given a good death. It would be a small consolidation to the greatest women she ever knew. The closet thing she had to family.
'Yes' Clarke asserted 'by my side. Trying to get a message to you'
Message? Was this a Sky people trick? Lexa wondered. It wasn't like Anya was alive to confirm any of these details that this Sky leader, this... Clarke said.
'What message?' Lexa replied sternly.
'The only way to save both our people is if we join together' Clarke stated with conviction.
'Those who are about to die will say anything' Indra rebuffed.
'I'm still waiting for an offer, Clarke?' Lexa wanted to get to the bottom of Clarke's intent.
'The Mountain Men are turning your people into Reapers, I can turn them back' Clarke declared boldly.
'Impossible!' Indra was outraged 'Commander I beg you let me kill her' She insisted.
'I've done it with Lincoln!' Clarke rushed.
'That traitor is the reason my village was slaughtered!' Indra was enraged as she approached Clarke. Lexa tried to call her down but she proceeded towards Clarke, her hand threateningly clasped on her weapon.
'Enough!' Lexa stood up from her throne. She would not have this get out of control and devolve into violence.
Lexa slowly approached Clarke, their faces were inches apart. She looked into her eyes trying to see the truth to her words 'You say you can turn Reapers back into men?'She questioned.
'Yes' Clarke asserted.
'Then prove it' Lexa demanded 'Show me Lincoln'. If this was true a deal could be struck, although it would take a great deal of convincing on Lexa's part to get the other leaders to agree. An end to the reapers was an enticing offer, perhaps too much so. This all could be a ploy just to kill her, Lexa pondered.
'He's in the Dropship, I can take you there' Clarke offered.
'Heda...' Gustus was about to protest but Lexa held up her hand. 'We go now' She insisted. She looked at Gustus and Indra with a determined gaze until each were resigned to her decision. They knew they could not convince her otherwise. Lexa turned back to Clarke and fixed her with an intense gaze. Lexa's green eyes meeting Clarke's clear blue, both of them trying to surmise each other's thoughts. Lexa was quickly building a picture of Clarke as a leader, examining and assessing everything she did and said.
'If there is any attempt by your people to attack us, every one of your people will die' Lexa put the full weight of that threat in her voice. There would be no more misunderstandings between their people, one false move and Lexa would not hesitate to kill this girl.
Clarke nodded solemnly and they left the tent together.