Chapter 9
One Last Contract

Clarke hadn't left Lexa's side since she'd brought her to the healing tent. More wounded had come and gone, and somehow, at one point, someone had cleaned Clarke's head wound, but the blond had barely noticed. Lexa was still unconscious, though the healers were confident she would wake up soon. Clarke couldn't wait, soon didn't seem like an acceptable answer.
Lexa seemed so peaceful sleeping there, it was almost frightful. She was breathing, but her chest was barely rising, probably because of the pain it brought her. She had a few broken ribs which had been tended to as best as possible. Clarke mostly stared at the cut on her lips, and the purple bruise on her cheek. She must have taken quite a punch.
Most people had left Clarke alone. The healers had tried to send her out, so she could eat something, but when she hadn't moved they'd send someone to fetch her food instead. Bellamy had come in to report on the state of their small army. Thirty-four wounded beyond a scratch and nine dead. She'd just nodded and sent him off. Lexa's blood riders had come in turn, one after the other, to keep an eye on their unconscious leader. Clarke hadn't bothered to count how long each of them stayed.
When Octavia returned for the third time, however, Clarke knew something was amiss. The young brunette had kept watch after Indra but before Lincoln, and Anya was the one currently keeping watch. Octavia came to stand next to her and handed her a piece of paper.
"You have to go to the war meeting."
Clarke ignored her at first.
"They don't need me to draft a peace treaty."
"Actually, they do."
She held out the piece of paper even closer to her, and Clarke finally picked it up.
"We found this in Lexa's tent."
Clarke sighed, hot air burning her throat. She was a mess of emotions, and now wasn't the time to deal with Lexa's stupid contract. But when she looked at the paper, she realized it wasn't the contract she'd presented her the previous day. Clarke read the letter and couldn't help but let out a strangled and annoyed chuckle.
"Is she serious?"
"Signed and all? Yep."
Clarke looked back at Lexa.
"You sly raccoon."
She stood up, her legs aching after she'd spent so many hours sitting.
"What are the others going to say?"
"All the available blood riders will be there to back you up. It's her will, they can't oppose it."
"Fine, let's go."

Clarke marched toward the war council tent, Octavia, Lincoln, and Indra right behind her. They were all still wearing their armor. Clarke felt disgusting, covered in sweat, meteorite dust and blood, both her own, Lexa's and dark green blood from her enemies. She could hear the chiefs of the other Clans arguing in the tent miles away. Night was falling on the forest. The sky was orange ahead of her, and dark blue behind her. People were lighting torches around the camp. Clarke really didn't want to attend the war council right now, but it couldn't wait any longer. She would make this council quick. She wished Lexa was by her side. She could imagine exactly how Lexa would have handled this. She channeled her best impression of the Commander and pushed the flaps of the tent open. She strolled in, first unnoticed by the arguing chiefs, the blood riders still behind her. It was only when she walked up on the small wooden dais and sat down on the Commander's throne that everyone suddenly stopped talking.
They all looked at her, anger and surprise mixed on their features.
"What do you think you're doing?" one of the chiefs – Clarke couldn't bother to remember from which Clan he was – asked. Clarke could feel the insult he was barely holding back.
She nodded toward Octavia, and the younger girl placed Lexa's letter on the table.
"The Commander has appointed me her proxy, should she be unable to draft the peace treaty."
They all looked at her in great surprised, and quickly passed the letter between each other, to make sure she was telling the truth. Many would have called her names, said she'd charmed the Commander to take over the throne, but with the three blood riders behind her, no one dared. They all sat down as well, and Clarke asked:
"What is the news from the Orcs?"
Indra replied:
"They are still retreating. A messenger from their newly appointed leader came through an hour ago. They ask for safe passage back to their lands. They promise to never wage war on us again and ask to keep all of their conquered lands."
Clarke thought for a second. What would Lexa say? Before the answer could come to her one of the chiefs declared:
"This seems like a perfectly good deal."
She looked up and glared at him.
"They want safe passage home, we can give it to them. But they will not keep a single piece of the land they've taken. We are the victors here, not them. They will return to their mountains and never leave them again. Because if they ever cross any of our borders, ever again, I will personally make sure that meteorite is placed all around their land, in such a quantity that it would kill them just to cross."

Clarke excited the war council tent drained. She ignored how Lexa managed to exert so much power all the time without feeling tired afterward. She had left the chiefs with the blood riders, discussing the celebrations. She'd been too tired to even think about celebrating. She wanted – needed – to return to Lexa's side.
She walked through the dark camp, only finding her way because of the torches. Soldiers had formed small circles all around the camp, drinking and celebrating their victory. She could hear songs rising from all over the forest but didn't pay them attention. She wished she could return to her tent, just to change clothes, but it was too far from the healing tent, and she would waste a minute going all the way back there.
"Hey!"
She bolted around. The dark and cold night already unnerved her naturally, but now was not a good time to interrupt her. She frowned. She was suddenly face to face with the figure from before. In the darkness, their missing face was even more unnerving. Their voice was also strange, an uncanny mix of male and female. Though they seemed to be dressed like people would usually dress in Polis, there was something odd, out of this world about them.
"It's you."
"I just gave you a second chance, I hope you'll take it."
"Who are you?"
"I wish I could say one day it'll make sense, but probably not to you."
"Is this all you have to say?" Clarke asked, annoyed by the cryptic way the cloaked figure spoke.
"I'm sorry, I can't stay. I have a lot of things to do."
"I wish I could repay you for saving her life."
The figure seemed to shrug.
"I'm just doing my job."
They turned around and walked away. Clarke didn't try to follow them. They quickly disappeared into the darkness, leaving no trace behind. Clarke turned back and hurried to the healing tent.

Clarke hadn't moved from her chair again. Night passed by, but her eyes refused to close and Lexa's to open. She had cleaned the blood and paint off of the Commander's face, and Clarke had wished that the cold water on her skin would wake Lexa, but she continued to sleep through it. By early morning most people were already up. Half of them walked through the field to reach the orcs' camp and escort them back to their mountains as barely disguised prisoners. The other half cleared their camp, folded the tents and packed everything, ready to walk back home. Only the healing tent hadn't been folded yet. It had been decided that they would wait for Lexa to wake up, and if by the end of the day she was still asleep, she would be carefully rolled back to Polis in a chariot.
Clarke knew she should be with her people right now, helping clean the mess and bring them back to the refugee camp, but she wouldn't leave Lexa's side, not until she was sure Lexa was awake and fine. She'd given Bellamy her orders, he knew what to do. The blood riders had been running around like headless chickens, making sure every Clan was packed and ready to leave. Indra had just arrived to replace Anya at Lexa's side. She would stay there all day as the rest of the riders lead everyone back to Polis.
Clarke had been staring at Lexa for hours now, waiting more and more impatiently for the brunette to wake up. Her breathing was even, her skin was warm, yet her fingers wouldn't move. Her eyes wouldn't open. She could feel Indra's eyes glancing at the both of them before the looked back at the entrance of the tent. Clarke cleared he throat.
"What will happen if she doesn't wake up?"
Indra didn't hesitate to answer.
"If she hadn't woken up in a week, one of her riders will have to put the Commander down. Then each clan will send a fighter for the ritual combat, to choose a new Commander."
Clarke really didn't want to think about it. Lexa was alive, she'd fought to make sure of that, and she decided she wouldn't let anyone kill her. Even if it took a month for her to wake up, she would wait and keep her safe.
"It won't come to that." She assured.
The flaps of the tent opened, and Anya, Lincoln, and Octavia walked in. Clarke barely looked away from Lexa. She knew the riders were there to report to Indra.
"The Woods Clan is packed; the Sky People are already on their way back and the River Clan has sent some reinforcement to the orcs camp."
Indra nodded.
"One of us is going to have to go with the orcs." The older woman noted.
They all looked at each other, unsure. Clarke could see it in their eyes. Neither of them wanted to go because neither of them wanted to be gone for weeks and come back only to learn their Commander was dead, and they no longer held the position of blood rider.
"I nominate Anya…"
They all looked at the bed in surprise, as Lexa slowly opened her eyes, a weak smile on her face. She blinked multiple times, her eyes too tired to stand even the tame light inside the tent. Clarke was stunned. She froze before throwing herself off the chair to kneel beside the cot. She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. Lexa turned her face slowly to look at her, her eyes barely opened.
"Hey, why are you crying?" she asked, her throat sore.
Clarke smiled through her tears.
"I don't know if I should punch you or kiss you right now."
"Well, I already feel like I took a serious punching… so maybe a kiss would be a good idea right now…"
Clarke leaned forward just enough to place her lips on Lexa's. One hand found Lexa's entwining their fingers, while the other carefully came to rest on Lexa's cheek, like a feather resting on her bruise. Behind them, Octavia was squealing, and the three others were rolling their eyes. When the two finally parted, Lexa's eyes lingered on Clarke a second. She moved her free hand slowly, mindful of her many wounds, and brushed the tears away. She then looked past the blond, to her riders, and glared at them:
"What are you waiting for? Let everyone know to stop preparing my funeral."
The four of them rushed out with a smile, leaving only Clarke and Lexa in the tent. Clarke tried to move away a bit, but Lexa refused to let go of her hand. She looked longly in Clarke's eyes, two crystal pure lakes who'd finally stop leaking, and declared:
"I am so sorry."
"For what?"
"Rushing into battle like that. I knew I should have called for help, but I just didn't want to harm anyone else. I promise next time I won't rush into battle like that."
"There won't be a next time, I'll make sure of it."
Clarke pressed a small kiss on Lexa's lips before pulling away.
"I'm going to fetch Nyko, tell him you're awake and get a chariot ready."
Clarke tried to stand up, but Lexa still wouldn't let go of her hand.
"Lex…"
The brunette once again stared longly into her eyes.
"Clarke, about that contract…"
"You don't have to apologize for that, I overreacted and…"
Lexa stopped her.
"I should have thought of a better one. But I've got it now."
Clarke frowned. There was a glint in Lexa's eyes, like a child who'd just learned a secret.
"Oh yeah? What is that?"
"Well, I mean, it's not a custom in Polis but I've heard other kingdoms do it. And I want to help you rebuild Arkadia. I promised I would, and I really want to. So how about we make Arkadia and Polis long-term allies?"
Clarke frowned.
"You lost me somewhere. I can't figure out where you're trying to go."
Lexa sighed with amusement. She took Clarke's hand with both hands and declared:
"I was talking about marriage. Do you… I mean, would you want to…"
Lexa huffed.
"I'm messing this up, this is awful."
Clarke smiled happily and pressed a kiss at the corner of Lexa's mouth.
"You just woke up after sleeping for an entire day, I'm not going to hold it against you."
"That's not the answer I was waiting for."
"Ok, so how about this: We've started courting a month ago and you almost died yesterday. By the looks of it, this whole peace treaty should be dealt with in the month to come. I think we can squeeze in a wedding before we start rebuilding Arkadia."
Lexa's expression went from confusion to a big, bright smile.
"Gods, I love you."