A/N: Elo again! Here I am, late, with Chapter four... I'm so sorry that I'm late, me and my beta both pretty much... y'know, forgot, as preposterous as it may seem, but here it finally is! Thank you to the people following and enjoy!

Song for this Chapter: Bad Moon Rising by Mourning ritual
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter Four: Protecting

"Preposterous!"

The air was stiff and thick in the meeting room, the people around the grey and oval table had faces writhed into shock and anger. At the end of the table stood the Commander, wearing armour and cape. Beside her stood Clarke and Titus, the latter looking appalled by Lexa's words. Clarke gulped as she watched the clan ambassadors and representatives angrily talking against the proposition Lexa had just voiced.

"You must be joking! You can't expect to let the Skaikru into the coalition! Those savages don't even know our ways!" One man spoke up. It was the ambassador of the Lake People. He wore thick leather robes and sported long black hair. His face had intricate tattoos running along his facial lines, connecting to make his face into an image.

"They would destroy our Traditions Heda! They are not worthy of our alliance!" Another ambassador exclaimed, this time a woman in grey and red burlap robes. If Clarke had heard correctly, she was from the Blue Cliff clan, a clan known for their herbs and potions.

"Ai na nou teik disha bushhada plan en em kru flosh osir kongeda klin!" The words had been spoken by a man in black and green clothes who now had drawn his sword and was marching straight at Clarke. The people around the table did not seem supportive of what he was trying to do, but neither did they object. The man had a cold glare in his brown eyes and his greyish blonde hair was thick and drawn back. Once he was within the striking range of Clarke who stood still and mortified by Lexa's side, he raised his long and silver coloured sword and brought it down only to hear a loud clang across the room. During the short time that he had raised his sword and prepared to bring it down, Lexa had drawn hers and now held it in front of the sky princess, blocking the man's sabre from inflicting any damage. She took a step forward and pushed the man back with the use of her sword and arm, causing him to momentarily lose his balance. To regain what was lost, he raised his sword arm and lowered the other, but this was what would cost him. Before anyone could blink, Lexa had whirled around and cleanly cut off the hand that held the sword. It fell to the ground with a clang followed by blood leaving the cut off limb and the now stump of an arm. The man screamed and fell to his knees as he hugged the arm with his remaining hand. His brown eyes were firmly planted on the ever pale limb on the stone floor that still had the handle of the sword in its palm.

Lexa only briefly looked at the guards by the wooden door to the room, but that was all it took for them to understand. The heavy men walked dutifully up to the man on the floor and quickly led him out of the room, leaving the hand and sword on the floor.

"Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op." Lexa's words echoed in the room, her cold green eyes glaring into each and every person by the table. "Is the message clear?" She asked. The representatives and their respective guards around the table only nodded or gulped, all seemingly too shocked by both the event that had just occurred and what the words meant. Lexa raised her head and gave a subtle nod, seemingly pleased with the result of the event that just took place.
"Good." She placed her hands to rest at the hilt of her sword and straightened herself as she looked upon the now silent room.

"I understand your concerns as they are well placed, but I can assure you that this is the best thing to do."
The clan ambassadors glanced at each other questioningly.
"Not only would we avoid war with the Sky People," Lexa continued. "But we would also have the opportunity to learn and trade with them. As I'm sure most of you know, they have wares and medicine that can help our own greatly. We would only gain from an alliance with them."

"When would they join?" The Blue Cliff woman asked, hey eyes firmly set on the Commander.
"A messenger will be sent once this meeting is over. He will travel directly to their camp and invite them to Polis for further discussion and will also escort them here." Lexa explained. Clarke gave a small nod to confirm when the woman eyed her.

"But Wanheda is their leader. Why would she need anyone else here?" A gruff voice said. Clarke couldn't see who had spoken, but it was from an old man. She curiously looked around the room quickly and had her eyes land on a tall man with a long silver coloured beard.
"She is, but she wants to discuss with her advisors and generals before settling on a final decision." Lexa answered before Clarke could. Clarke looked at Lexa curiously and also with some shock on her face. Lexa had just lied to everyone who stood around the table. Clarke wasn't the leader of the Sky People. She wasn't chancellor. Her curious glance turned into a glare which Lexa met only for a brief second, but that was all it took for Clarke to understand.

'Not now.'

The people around the table looked at each other and whispers were heard sailing through the air, both in Trigedasleng and English.

"And where will the Skaikru have their territory? They are currently residing on Trikru land, are they not?" A woman spoke. She wore dark brown leather and a grey cape of wolf fur. Clarke could guess that she was the representative of the Boat Clan judging by the mark engraved in the leather on her chest.

"That shall be discussed further once the Skaikru advisors and generals arrive. For now they stay where they are." Lexa said. The woman gave a small nod in return and looked down at the table. The people around the table seemed to be satisfied with the information they had gotten for the moment which Lexa took as a sign to begin the preparations.

The Commander put her hands behind her back as she looked around the room to confirm just a last time that everyone within it would leave without any question. Not a single representative seemed to have any burning questions they were struggling to force out, all were as silent as trees and focused as jaguars.

"Very well then. If no one else has any more questions, this meeting is finished. You may all return to your own business."

Her words made the room and air within the room move as ambassadors and body guards alike gave nods and left, small whispers and mutters between them. Lexa turned her head to Titus who stood next to her still, tall and with a strict facial expression.
"You may leave, Titus. Inform the Messenger that he can ride to the Sky People to deliver the message." Lexa said. Titus narrowed his eyes for a moment and shot a quick glare at Clarke before bowing and exiting the room, closing the doors behind him to leave the two leaders alone. Once the doors closed, Clarke let out a deep breath she had been holding in for the duration of the meeting. Lexa looked at her, a small smile threatening to break forth by tugging at the corners of her mouth. She was clearly amused by the situation.

"Life of Politics, Clarke. Get used to it." Lexa turned away from Clarke and started to slowly walk towards a small table by the wall. The table had four wooden cups on it accompanied with a blank metal vase that reflected the light of the candle chandeliers hanging from the roof.

"Lexa…" Clarke began, looking towards the Commander. Lexa had grabbed a cup and the vase and held it in her hands.

"Yes?" Lexa answered as she begun to pour a light rosé coloured liquid into the cup.
"Why did you lie back there? I'm not the leader, my mother is the chancellor so she's the official leader, not me." Clarke said as she looked curiously at Lexa who had now finished pouring the liquid into her cup. She placed it on the table and picked up another cup and gently started pouring the liquid into that too.

"Because while she may be the leader that you follow, she's not the leader we will follow. My people sees you as the leader of the Skaikru, not your chancellor." Lexa stopped pouring once the glass was filled and placed the vase on the table before grabbing the already full glass with her free hand.
"But why? I'm just someone who happened to fall from the sky, and that was because I was a prisoner an-"
"Clarke." Lexa cut Clarke off with the mention of her name. Clarke stopped talking and looked up at Lexa who now stood in front of her, a cup in each hand.

"They follow you because you have proven your strength not once, but twice. First with curing the reapers and then by defeating the mountain."
Lexa put the cups down on the large table that stood in the middle of the room and then placed a hand on Clarke's shoulder to show support.

"I know the mountain was hard for you, but you saved thousands of people by doing what you did. Believe it or not, but you did the right thing." Clarke looked up at Lexa, her eyes scanning the Commander's sea of green. There was something so soothing in them, something that calmed her. But even as they calmed her down, she could feel them pierce her skull. Clarke felt her head nod as she tore her eyes away from Lexa's to instead look at the floor below. Lexa felt something inside her tear and sink, but pushed it away Lexa removed her hand and again picked up the two cups on the table and held one between them, offering it to the blonde who looked up and raised her hand to accept Lexa's offer. Their hands brushed together as Clarke took the small wooden mug and small electric currents ran through them as they did. Both looked up and exchanged a glance. Both knew that the other one had felt it, but neither of them could know that the other one was aware of the same thing. Lexa took a step back let her hand automatically rest on the hilt of her sword. Clarke averted her gaze away from Lexa and glanced down into the cup curiously. She hadn't seen any liquid like this before. The closest she had gotten to it was the liquid the healer had used on her wound, but that was much redder than this.

"It's water with the juice of berries." Lexa explained once she noticed Clarke's bemused expression. Clarke formed a small 'o' with her lips and Lexa smiled.
"A toast to the future, however it may turn out." Lexa said as she raised her cup. Clarke smiled back and raised her cup as well, holding it up in the air between them.
"To whatever future that may come."

Lexa took a deep breath as she stopped in front of the door outside of her room. She knew what awaited inside. A disapproving Titus. A Titus who would tell her about how making the Skaikru a part of their coalition a mistake, and of how they should rather focus on the Ice Nation. But Lexa just couldn't leave Clarke behind again, and leaving her people would be to leave Clarke. She knew that what had happened mere moments ago in the meeting room had been real, and both she and Clarke had felt it. She was too far gone to push her away again. She could not possibly betray and abandon her once more.

She swallowed and sighed before opening the doors, and just as she expected, Titus was inside, waiting. He had his arms behind his back as he looked out her window and his back was straight. When he heard the sound of the door opening, he turned to face his Commander.
"Titus." She greeted him. Titus gave a small nod in return before muttering. "Heda."

"Why are you here?" The brunette asked. She knew all too well why he was here, she knew what his exact words would be. But yet she asked.

"To discuss the threat of the Ice Nation. Heda, you must really do something about this. Confront them or strike them back. Queen Nia grows more and more brave by the minute and you know that she is after you." He said. Genuine concern could be seen in his eyes. It was his duty to protect the Commander and the Commander's spirit, therefore he could not idly stand by and not at least try to warn her.

"I'm well aware of the Ice Nation's advances, but I'm afraid I can't do anything unless they officially attack us. You know how the rules work, either they invade my lands or they threaten me or any other clans directly. Only then can I do something about it. If there still is just a small chance that this coalition will keep working, I will do my best to keep it as it is." Lexa explained. She had started to take off her shoulder guard and placed it on the drawer next to the door, neatly folding the cape underneath the metal.

"Then why do you keep Clarke within Polis' walls? Why do you want to let the Skaikru join our coalition?" Titus muttered. His eyes scanned over the Commander who halted in the procedure to remove her armour. She instead whirled around to glare at the bald man.
"Our coalition? You did not want this alliance at all. You wanted to attack the Blue Cliff clan, the Ice Nation and the Glowing Forest. You wanted to end those three clans and then proceed to force the others into submission."
Lexa had started to advance on Titus, walking closer to him. The bald man in response kept his back straight and stared back into Lexa's eyes.
"You wanted to plunge thousands of people into war because of tradition when there was a better way. Don't you see Titus? It's time to change how we do things."

Titus was left with his mouth wide open at Lexa's words. He couldn't believe how far Lexa had strayed from their ways and traditions.
"You sound weaker than a child… How could the spirit possibly choose you?"

Lexa felt her blood boil underneath her skin. Her instincts told her to cut the man's head off with her sword, to banish him from her lands, to imprison him for the rest of his life. But he was the Flame keeper. To do such a thing would be preposterous.

"But I know that you haven't always been like this… What changed you?" Titus took a step closer to Lexa who stayed still, her eyes burning holes through the man's skull.
"Get. Out." Lexa hissed through gritted teeth. Titus raised his head and gave a low nod. He knew he had stepped over the line, but he firmly believed in what had been said. She had changed for the worse, and he knew what had done so to her.
The man walked past Lexa, muttering a low "Heda." to her before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Lexa breathed out and continued to take off her armour. Titus had always been straightforward, but never like this. He'd never blurt things like this out before, and even if he was the Flame Keeper, he had always been respectful to her.

Once the long robe and metal armour was off, she sat down on her bed and buried her head in her hands. She knew she had changed, but she had always wanted peace. She had always wanted to let her people live without the fear of war, to let children run freely in the woods without worrying for enemy warriors or acid fog. And she had made good progress to get to that goal. The coalition was in place and the mountain was gone. Yet the Ice Nation still sought to end everything she had fought for. She removed her hands and looked blankly at the floor, letting her eyes lazily rest on the soft brown the wood sported. She couldn't understand how peace could be such a foreign concept to everyone but her. Well, to her and Clarke.

Lexa flinched as she felt a stinging sensation shoot down her spine from her head and neck, burning her skin and nerves. A low hiss left her throat and she instinctively reached her hand to the back of her head and neck yet… she couldn't feel anything wrong. Just smooth skin. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she reached lower to the base of her neck and her hand froze. It was warm and wet. Slowly, she moved her hand to look at her hand and to her surprise, her fingers had a small dribble of her own familiar black blood. She stood up, clearly puzzled and walked over to her drawer on which the shoulderguard, armour and robe rested neatly in order. Underneath where she had laid the robe, beige piece of cloth peaked out. She lifted the robe carefully and rested it on the floor next to the drawer, letting the clasps on it clatter as they hit the hard wooden floor. The brunette grabbed the cloth and lifted her braided hair carefully to reach underneath with the cloth. She held it there for a short moment before removing it and looking at it again. There was indeed a small amount of black blood staining the cloth. She frowned. It wasn't a lot of blood. It wasn't much at all. It would heal within a day if the amount of blood was anything to judge by.

Therefore, Lexa opened the drawer and grabbed a small rounded metal container and opened it. Inside was the badly smelling paste that healed and protected wounds. She took the cloth and held it against her neck again and scooped up some of the paste with her fingers. She sighed quietly and wiped away as much blood as she could with the cloth before lifting her hair again and carefully applied the paste all over her neck. She had no idea where the wound was, so she could only guess by applying it wherever she could. Once the paste was applied, she turned around to walk to the section of her room in the back. She didn't want her hair to land in the paste as it would most certainly make it stick, so she would have to carefully unbraid it and keep it away from her neck until the paste would be dried up. She just wanted to know what had caused the bleeding…

Clarke turned her head automatically when she heard the door with a creak, flinching slightly at the movement of the paste on her wound. She was expecting to see Lexa or maybe a guard or healer, but was surprised to see Titus entering her room. Her brow furrowed as she grew puzzled to why and she stood up from her sitting position in the bed.

"Titus?" She asked. The bald man stopped a few metres away and straightened himself, placing his hands behind his back. His shot daggers at Clarke, wanting to burn through her and his face was stiff.

"Wanheda." He said in return, his voice dripping with despise. Clarke tilted her head as she looked at the man. She could feel the disapprovement radiating from him, the hate and resentment shooting out of him and into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Clarke asked curiously, her eyes still on the man. Titus raised his chin at the question and swallowed thickly.
"I have come to ask of you a favour." He said simply. His voice was silent and coarse, almost like fine sandpaper.

"Okay… And what's that?" Clarke asked in return. She took a step closer to the man, clearly curious and intrigued by whatever he might want from her.

"I need to ask you to leave." He said. "You being here puts Lexa's life in danger, it puts the Coalition's life in danger and it puts your life in danger. So that is why I am here."

Clarke furrowed her brow and tilted her head in the other direction. She already knew a lot about this. She knew how the grounders thought that if she were to be killed, her power would transfer to the one who had killed her. She knew that her helping the Skaikru to join the coalition would possibly have a major backlash from the people who were not yet informed and she also knew that some people would think that Lexa doubted herself from keeping her here. All of this concerned Clarke, but she knew that this was the best way to fix all of those issues. If she were to go away and stop her people from joining, they would end up in war since their base of operations were in Trikru territory. If she left, she wouldn't be under Lexa's protection anymore and she could be killed and if she left, she'd hurt Lexa in the same way that she had hurt her. To abandon when it was clear that Lexa needed her help.

"I… I can't." Clarke replied. Titus looked down into the ground and nodded lightly. He knew that she would say no, that was obvious. He just hoped that the Commander and Clarke knew what they were doing.

"Very well then. I respect your decision, but keep my warning in mind. You will face the consequences of this." He muttered before he turned around and left. He didn't want to warn Clarke, but he needed to protect Lexa. If Lexa felt for this girl, he would need to protect her too.

Translations:
Ai na nou teik disha bushhada plan en em kru flosh osir kongeda klin! - I can not let this coward of a woman and her people destroy our coalition!
Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op. - Attack her and you attack me.

A/N There we go! Again, sorry for being late, both I and my beta forgot. But it is here nonetheless! I will try to update in time next time 'round, so expect one to come before Sunday. Tell me what ya think of the story so far, point out any mistakes you may find and show your support by favouriting! Oh and of course, if you're intrigued, follow so you won't miss the next chapter. Thank y'all and Cye!