Chapter 7
Clarke awoke with a jerk and sat up, her heart beating almost out of her chest in fear at the sound of the roar.
"It's ok," said a calm, soft voice behind her. "You're safe."
Clarke turned around to face her and somehow the calmness of Lexa's voice and the sight of her sitting there, so completely at ease, was enough to bring Clarke's panic down sufficiently so that she could recognise the fact that the roar that had woken her had come from far, far away.
She… She looks more concerned about me than anything else.
And also ridiculously good for someone who hasn't slept all night.
And who's sporting several injuries.
"How's your arm?" Clarke asked once she'd managed to cobble enough brain power together to form words aloud.
"Hurts," Lexa said simply. If she was honest, Clarke was slightly surprised that the Commander was admitting that much.
Maybe some of my digs about pride actually hit home.
There was another distant roar and an echoing series of bangs.
"We should go," Clarke said, looking back in the direction of the noise. "That cage won't hold forever."
She pushed herself to her feet and was about to start putting out the fire when Lexa spoke again.
"Wait." The Commander pushed herself to her feet and Clarke almost gaped at her lack of wincing and at the speed with which the significantly injured woman before her had managed to stand up off the ground without any help or any sign of pain. Clarke's amazement was no less when Lexa came a few steps closer, her face a curiously soft mixture of concern and something that looked strangely like respect and ...what the-
"I was wrong about you, Clarke," Lexa said, and Clarke realised with astonishment that she was actually receiving some kind of apology from the Grounder Commander. "Your heart shows no sign of weakness."
She must have been thinking some serious thoughts overnight-
Clarke's amazed musings were interrupted by another roar and the sound of the pauna pounding against the cage door again.
"'The cage won't hold'," Clarke quoted herself aloud as the idea fell into her brain, almost disbelieving excitement bursting in her chest. "I think I know how to take Mount Weather." Lexa stared at her, her mouth opening in surprise. "We've been trying to get inside, but they've already let us in."
"What are you talking about?" Lexa asked, shaking her head in confusion.
"Your army is already there, locked in cages. We just need someone on the inside to let them out."
"Bellamy," Lexa said quickly and Clarke was pleased to see she'd caught up. "You have faith in him?"
"I do," Clarke said firmly.
"I hope your faith is well-placed", Lexa said with just the barest hint that she wasn't sure that it was, "because if he can't get inside, we can't win."
"He will," Clarke said determinedly, hoping that Lexa would trust her faith in Bellamy even if she didn't trust the man himself, and glad to see that the Commander had apparently come back around, evidently now agreeing that they needed to wait for their inside man for their attack to work. She turned slightly to stomp out the fire, feeling rejuvenated by the hope of a good plan as much as by her sleep. "Lexa, this is gonna work. Come on."
She turned to offer the Commander her assistance but was somewhat astonished to see that Lexa was already walking past her quite independently, if not quite with her normal gait.
"Lexa," she called after her, catching up, "are you alright? How are you walking- yesterday you could barely stand-?"
"I heal quickly," the Commander replied, unconcerned. "It is not fully comfortable yet, but hopefully I will no longer slow us down as I did yesterday."
No, Clarke thought with an unstoppable roll of her eyes, that'll be my job.
"Ok, but there's a difference between healing and healing healthily. Don't make an injury worse than it has to be for the sake of, what? getting back to Tondc and hour, maybe two, earlier."
"I will be fine, Clarke," Lexa said, turning her face toward the blonde just enough so she could see that tiny hint of disarming smile. "I appreciate your concern but I have enough experience of injuries such as this to know where my limits are, pride or no."
So the pride talk did hit the mark then.
"Besides," Lexa carried on, "I have a feeling that the sooner we get back, the better. Not only will we be able to start preparations for this plan of yours, but I imagine that there will be at least some worry as to where we are. You were expected back at Camp Jaha yesterday evening, were you not?"
"Uh, yeah," Clarke conceded, not quite sure how to interpret what looked on the surface like Lexa's concern for her people's peace of mind; she couldn't quite believe it to be that, somehow.
She is right though: mum is going to be freaking out.
"Well I guess we might as well plan our preparations a bit while we walk," Clarke suggested, quite agreeing that the sooner she could get off to Camp Jaha and head off the storm of her mother's fear, the better. "How do we proceed from this point? I know the first thing I need to do is establish contact with Bellamy, but once we've got that, what's the plan with your army?"
"Well," Lexa said, her head cocked slightly, "I shall send out riders to the leaders of the clans in the area affected by the Mountain and their leaders will come to a summit at Tondc. Once we have them all gathered, we can lay our broader plan before them and work out the details together. The clan leaders all have good minds strategically, so it makes sense to use them when we strategise."
"It makes sense politically too," Clarke couldn't help inserting here, "to make them feel part of the process."
"Indeed," Lexa nodded and, not for the first time, Clarke was slightly surprised to hear the Commander admit it. Apparently she'd been assuming that the delicacy of political psychology would not be considered amid brash, strength-based Grounder leadership skills. "I'm hoping- you said that Bellamy and Lincoln set off for the Mountain yesterday, correct?" Clarke nodded. "I'm hoping, that by the time I have all my clan leaders gathered, Bellamy will have made contact with this radio that you spoke of and we will have something concrete to go on."
Lexa glanced a little uncertainly at Clarke as she said the word 'radio', as if checking she had said an unfamiliar word correctly, and the blonde felt sure then that it had indeed been only by inference that the Commander had understood her when she'd told her about the radio two days before.
When am I going to stop being surprised at how smart she is?
"Yeah, I would hope that we'll hear from him today, that's assuming he hasn't already made contact with Raven." She paused, hesitating. "Lexa, do you- do you know what a radio is?"
Lexa looked at her sharply, her brows furrowed.
"I mean, it makes perfect sense if you don't – I mean, why would you?"
It was odd; she'd been determinedly trying to get Lexa to see the errors of her pride before, but now she felt quite certain that Lexa's pride was not something she wanted to injure.
"It's not a term I'm familiar with," the Commander replied slightly stiffly, "but I'm guessing it is a device that allows long distance communication. Correct?"
"Yeah, it is," she confirmed, trying not to smile, "though I'm not sure any of your generals at the meeting yesterday managed to work that out as quickly as you did." Lexa's face instantly relaxed, her frown replaced by another of those tiny hints of a smile. Now that it had happened a couple of times, Clarke was able to move past her shock just enough to register the fact that it was actually quite sweet.
"Why do you ask?" Lexa inquired, that whisper of a smile still lingering on her face in the softness of her expression.
"I just wondered why you didn't. Ask, I mean," she clarified at Lexa's look of slight confusion.
"I didn't see the need; I was fairly certain I understood the important point."
"Okay," Clarke allowed, drawing out the word a little as she thought how to phrase the next bit. "But just ask next time. You know I would never suggest that you'd ever do anything stupid for the sake of your pride," Clarke couldn't not smirk as Lexa's eyebrows shot up, "but it really shouldn't injure your pride to ask questions that you've had no way of knowing the answers to before. Not to mention the fact that there are a thousand more things about your culture and your world that I have no clue about and I have a feeling that this alliance will go much better all around if we are both free to ask questions that help us understand one another."
Lexa's eyebrows rose so high for a second they almost disappeared, but then her eyes narrowed, though with just enough of a curl in the corner of her mouth for Clarke to see that she was more amused than offended.
"I agree. What did you want to ask, Clarke?"
"What?" Clarke blustered, not quite sure how Lexa had turned that on her quite so fast or so successfully. How the hell did she know what I was getting at when even I didn't realise at first?
"Ask, Clarke," Lexa commanded, her voice carefully neutral as usual, leaving Clarke to just imagine her secret smug amusement.
"Well, I, I just-" She stopped, told herself to get a grip and took a breath. "There're too many to deal with right now, I mean, just learning some of your language would help a lot, not to mention: how the whole clan coalition thing works, what's the political structure, do you have schools, do you read, how are 'seconds' chosen-"
"You wish to speak Trigedasleng?" Lexa cut her off, a softly surprised look in her eyes.
"Is that what you call it, your language?"
"Yes," Lexa nodded, "and your language is Gonasleng for only warriors speak it among our people. 'Gona' means 'warrior'."
"What-" Clarke paused, but she had been wondering about this. "What does 'Yu gonplei ste odon' mean? I mean, I know it's- I know-"
"It means, 'Your fight is over'," Lexa said gently, cutting her off.
"'Your fight is over'," Clarke mused. That's beautiful, in a tragic 'life is but a fight' kind of way.
"I'm sure we can arrange tuition for those who want to learn, although perhaps it may be best postponed until after this battle with the Mountain."
Clarke looked at her sharply, entirely unsure whether or not to take this as a good sign, that Lexa too was aiming for peaceful relations well beyond their defeat of the Mountain, or as ominous, that she didn't think it important enough to get started with right away.
"Was there anything else?" Lexa asked after the silence stretched on for a few moments.
"Well," Clarke hesitated, knowing this last was necessary no matter how little she wanted to ask it, "it occurred to me that the next couple of days could go a lot better if I could borrow a horse from you and if I knew even vaguely how to ride one. I really ought to get back to Camp Jaha as soon as possible to hear from Bellamy and it'll mean I can get back to Tondc with news sooner as well-"
"You can borrow a horse, Clarke," Lexa said as if it was obvious that she would agree to this. "I was already planning to lend you one and send some riders with you too. Pauna are not the only dangers in these woods and I would like it if you made it to Camp Jaha and back in one piece. Just as you do not wish my spirit to pass to one of my generals, I would not wish to have to deal with any of yours in your stead."
Clarke stared, completely thrown by more than one part of that little speech. She knew there were bits of it that were worthy of some serious processing but her mind came to a screeching Finn-shaped halt before she got anywhere near them. She settled instead for wondering at the bit where Lexa apparently thought that she had generals of her own.
"Lexa," she began, unsure whether or not it was wise to enlighten the Commander on this point or not, "you do know that I'm not really the leader of Camp Jaha, I'm not the Chancellor-"
"I'm perfectly aware of the fact that you aren't the 'Chancellor'," Lexa said with a weary edge in her voice which suggested she thought this question was slightly patronising, "but I'm also quite aware of the fact that you are the person they all look to when decisions are to be made and action taken. I believe I would be right in thinking that the reason your mother has not handed down her title to you yet has at least something to do with pride."
Clarke gaped at her for a moment before shaking her head slightly as if to dislodge her own amazement to make way for rational thought.
"It's not like that, Lexa-"
"Shh!"
Suddenly Lexa grabbed her and pulled her behind a tree with a particularly wide trunk, pressing them both against it as she held her finger to her lips for silence. Clarke had no idea what was going on but could feel the tension in the taller girl's body as she leaned across her slightly, peering carefully around the tree. Lexa's heart was pounding; Clarke could feel it against her own chest where they made contact.
And then Clarke realised she could hear the low rumbling mumble of distant voices, so quiet she might almost have imagined it.
How the hell did she hear that when I was talking right next to her?!
And then Lexa's body relaxed, pulling away from Clarke and stepping out from behind the tree.
"It's ok," she said to Clarke, her face showing no sign that ten seconds ago she had more or less pounced on the blonde without warning. Clarke tried not to listen to her body's response to the fact that she had just been suddenly pressed hard up against a tree by a woman who was, purely objectively speaking, outrageously attractive. "They're from Tondc; they are probably looking for us."
Clarke took a moment to catch her breath and her composure as Lexa strode further out of cover and hailed the two riders that Clarke could now see were headed towards them. The riders, having now seen their Heda, came swiftly towards them.
"Heda," one of the riders called out as soon as they were in earshot and at that point Clarke recognised him as Anto, the same Grounder who had searched Raven and found poison on her. She took a breath and somewhat unsuccessfully told herself that he was not directly responsible for what had been done to her friend. "Laik yu klir? Osir-"
"We are fine," Lexa responded quickly in English and Clarke felt certain that it was for her sake that she did. She also frowned as she registered what Lexa had said and contrasted it with the fact that Lexa had dislocated her shoulder, bruised some ribs and sprained an ankle. "We lost Sefon to the pauna and Quint died at my sword for his treachery, but we have survived and the pauna is confined, for now at least."
Clarke could see the slightly nervous glances that Anto and his companion sent at each other as Lexa turned away from them, but couldn't tell whether it was due to mention of the pauna or because of Quint's fate.
"Clarke," Lexa continued as she turned back to face her. "Are you ready to learn to ride a horse?"
Clarke's eyes widened so fast she was half surprised her eyeballs didn't fall out of their sockets.
"Uh, yeah, uh, I guess, but, there aren't enough-"
"Anto, Fezan," Lexa cut her off, turning back to the riders. "We need to get back to Tondc immediately. I will need to borrow your horses; I trust you are prepared to make your way back on foot?"
"Of course, Heda," they replied in unison; Clarke almost thought they were going to salute. They didn't salute but they did immediately dismount, leading their rather enormous horses forwards and offering their reins to Lexa.
"Clarke," Lexa called and the blonde tried to force any fear of the oversized animals from her chest as she approached.
At least they're smaller than the pauna.
"You have never ridden before?"
"Not on purpose."
Lexa looked questioningly at her for a second but seemed to decide that the time for such stories was not now.
"First you need to mount the horse. It was your right ankle that you injured yesterday, correct?"
"Uh, yeah," Clarke confirmed, slightly surprised that Lexa had picked up on that given her own much more extensive injuries.
"That's good, because it is your left foot that takes most of the strain when mounting. Come here," she said and Clarke somewhat warily allowed herself to be directed closer to the horse. "Place your left foot in the stirrup, here; I will keep you steady because your right ankle is not at full strength." Clarke felt a hand grasp her right hip gently but firmly, twisting her to face towards the horse's rear. "Lift your foot, Clarke," Lexa reiterated as Clarke continued to just stand there.
"Like this?" Clarke questioned, feeling incredibly awkward with her body more or less bent double in her attempt to get her foot in the stirrup, horribly aware of the way her backside was sticking out.
"More or less," Lexa replied.
She'd better not be smirking.
"Now, grab hold of the reins and a bit of the horse's mane with your left hand and the back of the saddle with your right and push yourself up into the saddle. Again, I can help you a little."
"Are you serious? Is it meant to feel this ungainly?!"
"It is for the first few times," Lexa said and, unless Clarke was very much mistaken, she gave her hip what was supposed to be a reassuring squeeze.
What the actual f-
"You're doing fine. Now push yourself up- Go on-"
Clarke shook her head clear of as many confusing thoughts as she could and focused on the task at hand. She pushed and pulled and heaved, ignoring the twinge in her right ankle as best she could as she lifted off the ground, finding herself balanced precariously on her left foot in the stirrup, not quite able to pull herself the rest of the way up.
And then the barely-there, one-handed grip at her hip slid around the small of her back to her left hip, tightened and pushed; suddenly she was moving up and over the horse's back with ease, would in fact have toppled all the way over the other side if Lexa hadn't kept her grip and guided her firmly into the seat of the saddle.
A wave of vertigo swam up through her brain at being suddenly sat so high and she was grateful that Lexa's evidently ridiculously strong hand didn't leave her for a few moments more, as if the Commander knew she might need a couple of moments to settle before she'd be alright.
"Are you alright?" Lexa asked with a gentleness that Clarke didn't quite know what to do with.
"Uh, yeah, I'm good, I just- It feels a little high up here."
"You'll get used to it, quicker than you'd think," Lexa said reassuringly.
"Here's hoping," Clarke muttered to herself as Lexa left her side and made her way towards the other horse. She watched as the brunette somehow managed to make it look easy to mount her horse, despite having one arm in a sling, bruised ribs and a sprained ankle.
"Anto, Fezan," Lexa addressed them. "Your horses will be waiting for you at Tondc."
"Sha, Heda," they replied and set off back through the woods.
"Clarke," the brunette said, turning towards her and somehow conveying her desire to turn to the horse as she did so without any obvious gestures of hands or feet. "Let's go."
"Uh-"
"The most important part of riding is to relax your body." Easier said than done. "Just think how much contact there is between your body and the horse's and then you'll realise how much you can communicate to them with almost unconscious movement."
Clarke watched, slightly bewildered, as Lexa's horse proceeded to walk, stop and turn in a circle on demand without Lexa giving it any obvious instruction.
Well, this is going to be a disaster.
Suck it up, Griffin. You quite literally asked for it.
It took a few false starts, but before too long Clarke and Lexa were well on their way back to Tondc. Admittedly, Clarke wasn't anywhere near mastering the instant-psychic connection Lexa seemed to have with the animals and had to actually use her hands and feet to instruct the horse, but it was working well enough.
She'd had a nervy moment when they first graduated from walking to trotting – Oh fu- oh my- I'm gonna bounce right off this thing! – but she conquered it and was then surprised and pleased to discover that cantering was not only much faster, but much smoother and more comfortable too.
"You know," she called across to Lexa as they cantered along, unable not to feel a thrill at her accomplishment and at the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair, "this isn't so bad!"
"Indeed," Lexa replied with that half a hint of a smile again. "I should warn you now that your legs are going to ache for the next little while."
"Great." Clarke rolled her eyes but still couldn't quite wipe the smile from her face at the sensation of wind blowing so freely around her. Really, you should have warned me before I got on this thing, but hey.
But there was no denying that they were making much faster progress than they would have on foot. It was only an hour, maybe two, before Lexa announced that they were nearly there and they slowed from their canter to a walk.
"So I guess the first thing to do is get me sent back off to Camp Jaha with some of your riders then?" Clarke asked as the village walls came into view through the trees.
"No," Lexa said with her usual seriousness. "The first thing to do is to get you safely off that horse before we enter the village. Dismounting can be…ungainly if you're not used to it and, correct me if I'm wrong, but your own pride would not wish you to-"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lexa," Clarke said with as much sarcasm as she could pack into her voice.
"We can go in on horseback if you'd like?"
"Shut up," Clarke snapped crabbily and pulled her horse to a halt. She felt a brief moment of cold fear as she realised that she had just told the Commander to 'shut up' and that people probably didn't usually survive doing that, but saw with some surprise and relief that Lexa did not seem to be taking offence. Apparently surviving the pauna together had not only made Clarke relax way too much around the Grounder, but had made Lexa more lenient than Clarke would have expected her to be. "Ok, so, how do I get off this thing?"
"Watch me," Lexa said, trotting her horse forward and turning it so she was facing perpendicularly to Clarke. "First, take both feet out of the stirrups, then lean forward so you can support some of your weight with your hands on the front of the saddle. Swing your right leg up and wide over the horse's rump and then slide to the ground and bend your knees when you land. Try not to kick your horse as you do so, it can be confusing for them."
Clarke watched as Lexa dismounted in one easy, fluid motion and knew with great and immediate certainty that her legs did not have the strength to do that right now. The Commander turned, throwing her horse's reins over a nearby tree branch and walked towards Clarke until she was stood right by her left knee.
"It won't be easy for you to do that right now," she said, her voice devoid of amusement and Clarke felt a brief and strange moment of guilt for having assumed that Lexa was teasing her when perhaps she wasn't; perhaps she simply hadn't wanted Clarke to embarrass herself in front of all of Tondc.
I mean, I guess it wouldn't reflect that well on her either; she made an alliance with me after all. It wouldn't do for the Commander to be making alliances with people so weak and useless they can't even ride horses.
"I imagine your legs are aching quite a bit already, your stomach muscles too?"
Somehow it was hard to hold onto assumptions of Lexa's ulterior motives when she was looking up at Clarke with her big green eyes like that, their bigness and greenness not lost in the shadows of war paint.
"Uh, yeah," Clarke muttered, telling herself firmly that she wasn't feeling at all flustered and that Lexa's eyes were having absolutely no effect on her whatsoever.
"That's to be expected," Lexa nodded, almost consolingly. "But I want you to try anyway. You just need to get your leg swung up and over; I'll be able to help you from there."
"Honestly," Clarke began hesitantly, feeling reasonably secure that Lexa wouldn't laugh at her, "I'm not sure I'm going to be able to swing my leg up without kicking her as I go – won't she start to walk off-?"
"That can happen, but it won't because I'm stood right here and I'm holding the reins; she's not going anywhere."
Clarke met Lexa's eyes for a moment and found that not only did she have no choice but to trust her, but that she actually did trust her.
She leaned forwards as Lexa had told her to and almost immediately felt the muscles in her stomach protesting. She hadn't even realised she was using her stomach muscles that much but right now they were aching. Then she heaved her right leg up over the horse's rump and thought for a split second that someone must have set fire to her thighs because her muscles burned so badly.
"Easy now," Lexa murmured as Clarke gasped in pain and began to slide unsteadily from the saddle.
There is no way my legs are going to hold me up when I land-
She hit the floor with a thump but immediately felt Lexa's right hand wrap around her waist, supporting her weight as her legs struggled to get accustomed to being on the ground again.
"Just take a moment and you'll be alright," the Grounder said quietly, her voice so soft and close to Clarke's ear that the blonde was finding it really hard to ignore the shivering sensation that was running down her spine as a result. It was almost literally impossible not to lean into the strong arm around her; she convinced herself that it really was impossible. "Riding horses uses muscles you really don't use for anything else; the more you do it, the less you'll hurt when you do."
Clarke nodded, feeling more and more desperate to put a little space between her and Lexa by the second.
This is so not happening.
Not now.
Not with Lexa.
Just because she's obviously attractive does not mean anything here.
With several levels of effort, she summoned enough strength in her legs to enable her to stand without Lexa's support. She took a few painful steps, feeling more relieved by the second.
"Are you alright?" Lexa asked from behind her.
"Yup," Clarke forced her reply through gritted teeth, hoping she'd manage to stop wincing soon. "Yeah, I'm good. We should get going."
"Ok then." The brunette walked over to her horse, unhitching its reins from the tree and leading the way towards Tondc.
"Thanks, Lexa," Clarke said as they approached the village gates. It was strange; Clarke felt an odd little tightness form in her chest at the fact that they were about to rejoin the rest of the world and felt a great need to thank the brunette before they went inside to be surrounded by other people again. Regardless of the confusing mess of thoughts and feelings that Clarke had surrounding the Commander, there was no doubt that Lexa had gone out of her way to make things easier for Clarke, this morning at least.
Lexa glanced back at her for just a second and nodded one of those tiny, all-but-imperceptible nods before they broke the tree line and welcoming shouts of 'Heda!' came from the walls; the Commander's attention immediately fixed itself back on her people.
The gates swung open and the villagers practically swarmed towards them, concern for Lexa clear on their faces and in their voices. The only words Clarke could actually understand were 'Heda' and 'pauna' but that was plenty enough.
They really care about her.
"Ai ste kik raun," Lexa said firmly, holding up her good hand to quieten them. "Ai ste kik raun."
"Heda," Nyko appeared, pushing his way to the front of the group. "You are injured. We heard the pauna; how did you survive?"
"Together," Lexa replied after a moment, pausing before looking around at all the villagers present, glancing at Clarke and back again, and saying firmly, "Ogeda."
Clarke didn't know the word, but she was prepared to bet that it meant 'together'.
"Heda," Nyko began again as the crowd began to murmur, "your injuries-"
But then he was cut off by a commotion that was making its way quickly towards them down the street.
Oh god.
"Clarke! Clarke, are you alright?! When you didn't come back yesterday we thought they'd-"
"Mum, I'm fine," Clarke tried to cut her mother off before she could be too insulting to the Grounders that surrounded them. "Just a slightly twisted ankle which is a major let off considering the thing that chased us."
"They said you and the Commander and a few others were missing and that something called a powna had been heard, but I wasn't sure if they were telling the truth-"
"Mum!" Clarke hissed, wondering if her mother was trying to make as awkward a scene as possible. "It's a pauna and it's like a giant mutant gorilla and the Commander and I just about managed to escape it together." She glanced at Lexa and could see the brunette watching them, just the tiniest hardening of her eyes visible as they rested on Abby; Clarke wasn't even sure she'd have been able to see it if she hadn't spent a large portion of the last 24 hours alone with the brunette and had begun to read her a little better.
I'm pretty sure it means 'together' and I really need to smooth this over…
"Ogeda," she said and watched Lexa's eyes shoot back to her, the hardness falling right away to be replaced by something much softer and altogether scarier.
Nope. Not happening.
"We need to get back to Camp Jaha," Clarke said quickly, pulling her gaze from Lexa's and focusing back on her mother. "I need to get in touch with Bellamy-"
"First you must eat, Clarke," Lexa interrupted her firmly with her powerful quiet voice. "We haven't eaten in almost 24 hours; it would be foolish to leave it longer when we have supplies available here."
"Yeah, ok," Clarke conceded a little impatiently, even though at the mention of 'eating' her stomach began to claw at her. Her desire to get distance between Lexa and herself was only increasing; spending so much time alone with the Commander was doing strange things to her brain and she really could not afford that kind of confusion in her head right now. "Some food would be great, but then we really must go."
"Of course," Lexa agreed, nodding and firing off rounds of instruction in quick Trigedasleng to several of the Grounders around them. Clarke didn't know many words but heard her own name and her mother's and looked enquiringly at Lexa when the Commander had finished. "I have sent for fresh horses for you and several of my warriors to accompany you. Also, if you will follow me-?" she said, turning and gesturing for them to go with her as she walked further into the village, stopping by one of the more well-kept huts in the centre of the village. "This is the hut set aside for my use when I am here. If you will wait inside, food will be brought for you both shortly."
"What about you?" The question burst out of Clarke before she could really stop herself; she could feel her mother's eyes on her.
"I will eat later," Lexa replied, her eyes unreadable. "First I must arrange messages to be sent to the Clan leaders."
"Lexa-" Clarke cut herself off, not wanting to get into that argument again.
Lexa raised an eyebrow at her, almost daring Clarke to speak her mind and call her out on her stupid pride again but Clarke stopped short, remembering again her desire to put some distance back between them.
If she wants to starve herself for no good reason, then so be it. I don't have brain space for this right now.
"Thank you," Clarke said rather formally, drawing herself up a little. "Who should we speak to about the horses once we've eaten?"
"Once my riders have readied themselves and the horses, they will report to you here. They should not be long."
Even as Lexa spoke, Clarke saw a man walking towards them carrying two steaming bowls of some kind of grainy off-white substance which was presumably to be her breakfast.
That was nothing if not fast. Good job I'm hungry though; it doesn't exactly look that appealing.
"Heda," the man addressed Lexa respectfully. "Dina gon emo Skaikru." His eyes darted questioningly from Lexa to Clarke and Abby and back again.
"Mochof, Derro," Lexa murmured with one of her small smiles and the man's face lit up as if he'd just been given the greatest blessing of his life. He handed the bowls to Clarke and Abby, still smiling widely under the Commander's notice.
I think- I think I've heard 'mochof' before…
"Mochof," Clarke said to him carefully, hoping her guess was right. Judging by his surprised reaction and the widening warmth of Lexa's smile, it was. He nodded at her before inclining a small bow to Lexa and moving away.
"Well done," Lexa said once he'd left, her eyes steady on Clarke's.
"It was a guess," Clarke said, examining her bowl of food as an excuse to drop Lexa's gaze.
"It was a good guess. You are right that it will benefit our alliance in many ways if you can learn Trigedasleng; I will make sure it is facilitated as soon as is feasible."
"Thank you," Clarke said, raising her gaze again. "Mochof." The look in Lexa's eyes and the undeniable effect that it had on her, made Clarke wish she hadn't said it.
"Please," Lexa said, gesturing to the door behind them. "Go inside. Eat. My riders will report to you soon. I may not see you before you leave, so have a safe journey. I look forward to hearing that Bellamy has achieved his mission."
"Ok, thank you," Clarke said, feeling suddenly a little flustered. "I guess I'll see you in a few days then."
Lexa nodded and turned to walk away.
"Lexa," Clarke called quickly, once again unable to stop herself. "Make sure you let Nyko see to your injuries."
Lexa full on smiled at this; the effect was a little dazzling.
"Of course," the brunette replied, her eyes lingering on Clarke for a moment more before she left.
Ohh-kaayy…
I reckon I could probably persuade mum or Kane to come here for the summit instead of me once we've heard from Bellamy. That seems like a much better idea.
Clarke told herself firmly that if she got away from Lexa for a few days, got her focus back, she'd find the whole idea of being attracted to her as farcically laughable as it really must be. She was almost able to convince herself that the crazed mess of thoughts and feelings spinning through her body as a result of Lexa's eyes on her were due to the fact that they'd just had a fairly intense 24 hours of pure survival time together.
Almost.
There was just this niggling voice of doubt in the back of her mind that told her things could get very complicated very quickly if she had to get through much more alone time with Lexa.
A/N: Oh Clarke! She's so not ready for all the feels and yet how can you spend time with Lexa and not get all the feels!?
I hope you enjoyed it! It felt like there was a lot of me making stuff up in this chapter, so I hope I wasn't pushing the boundaries of cannon too much – let me know what you think, either way
