CHAPTER 6 –Tu keryon (part 2)

Lexa can't but guess what Clarke must be experiencing. She remembers the feeling of utter freedom of the first time she rode her stallion. The feeling of complete connection with the animal, with nature. She wanders if that's what Clarke's going through, but does not want to interrupt the rapture that seems to be involving her, so she focuses no firmly guiding the horse and sharpens all of her senses to keep everything under control. If I am alert, Clarke can enjoy herself and lay down her guard.

She wants Clarke to enjoy as much as she did on her first horse-riding experience.
"It feels nice, doesn't it?" She asks after a while.
"Marvelous!" Clarke replies, still enraptured.
"Your demeanor reminds me of the first time I rode"
"What was it like?" Asks Clarke, visibly eager to hear anything related to Lexa's unrevealed past. Lexa takes a moment to savor Clarke's interest and then proceeds, the story flowing through her lips like the creek they are approaching.

"It was some time before my 7th summer… It is part of our tradition for warchiefs to gift their firstborns with a feral horse in the break of their 8th summer, since it is believed that in taming them, firstborns initiate their learning on how to command. The first lesson is to learn how to govern a wild horse" Lexa starts.

"So, I still had four entire seasons before I was to be gifted with my horse, but I was rather lacking in patience as a child"
"You, impatient?" Clarke asks, amused. Lexa nods gravely, as if it was a great fault, and goes on.

"My father and I used to track wild horses, which he would then round up and leave for my mother to dispose of. She usually gave them for her warriors to break in and then use."
"So your mother was the Commander?" Clarke asks, intrigued. "I thought that your leadership was passed on by merit, rather than bloodline…"
"It is complicated. My mother had a warrior named Spektra as her second. When my mother died, Spektra became Commander of the Tree people, and she chose Anya as her second, who in turn, trained me when the time came for me to rule." Lexa explains. "But it is believed that when a Commander dies, part of her spirit moves on to her firstborn daughter. So it isn't surprising that Commanders' children are gifted with great leadership skills and prowess." She states flatly.

Clarke nods, her grimace that of deep thought and a visible effort to understand.
"I guess it's not so different from what happened at the Ark…"

"So anyway, one night, I sneaked out of my family's dwelling and crept away into the night. I followed the recent tracks my father and I had found that morning, and they led me to the herd of horses we had seen. I set my eyes on a young, yet strong, white horse, grazing a little far away from the herd. As carefully as I could manage with my then clumsy limbs, I went closer."
"Sounds like you were a fearless child!" Clarke exclaims, stroking the horse's mane absent-mindedly.

"I remember standing right in front of that horse, unable to determine if it was going to attack or not. After some of the longest minutes of my young years, I reached out my hand and the horse shyly nuzzled it. Then, something in my spirit told me the horse was welcoming, so I walked up to its flank and, probably less deftly than I recall, I mounted it." Lexa pauses, lost in recollection.

"No words can describe the feeling of sheer, absolute freedom I experienced back then" She smiles to herself. "How in that moment nothing mattered other than the horse and I" She finishes.
"What happened when your parents realized you were missing?" Clarke asks, intrigued at how Grounders deal with child mischief.
"I was punished with then lashes" Lexa explains, still bemused by the memory. "My mother knew that anything less would have been seen as a sign of weakness for her daughter" She adds, remembering the Sky people's soft rules.
"That's outrageous!" Clarke exclaims. "What happened to the horse?"
"You are riding it as we speak" Lexa replies, slowing down to a halt. She can see by the look on Clarke's face that she has managed to impress the blonde.

"Why are we stopping?" Clarke wonders.
"I do not know if it is your case, but I am in dire need of a bath" Lexa offers as an explanation as she walks into the stream they have reached, undressing as she gets closer. She carelessly removes her boots and pants. Then, as she slowly dips into the water, she strips of her upper body armor and garments in a couple of quick movements, turning her head only enough to see a perplexed Clarke from the corner of her eye.

"Perhaps if would be good for you to join me" She says, enjoying the impression she is causing the blonde, and then diver into the creek's cool, clear waters.