Ai Hod Yu In
Chapter 22
Clarke had been about to leave with Madi, she really had. She had had their things ready and everything. Still, she'd been forced to remember Lexa the whole time. While she didn't want to see Lexa die today, she had to admit that if today was stubborn Lexa's last day, she wanted to be there for her. That had opened a whole other can of worms, because it meant that she had to admit why she wanted to be there for her.
Lexa was stubborn, and she'd betrayed Clarke in the past. She put her people first, and she always would. And yet, she'd also become the person Clarke could talk to lately. Despite their past, Clarke trusted Lexa. Trusted her enough to share one of her biggest secrets. When Lexa smiled, Clarke herself had to smile as well. All of this was because, somewhere down the line, Clarke had maybe kind of sort of fallen in love with Lexa. That was a hard blow to swallow. She knew it was possible to love more than one person at once, and she'd barely seen Bellamy lately anyway. Bellamy always ran red hot, ready to fight anyone he needed to keep his sister safe. That was why loving Lexa was such a surprise. Lexa wasn't the complete opposite as Bellamy, but she ran cold as ice. She used her head, and she schemed. She thought every move through. How could she love both people so much, when they were each so different?
Clarke had hurried down with Madi, their bags still packed in their room. If Lexa died today, Clarke would rush up there and grab everything, and then she would leave. Still, she hoped even more that Lexa did win today. She knew what kind of fighter Roan was, but she hoped desperately that Lexa could defeat him.
She pushed her way to the front, where Lexa was stood. She still hadn't picked up her weapons yet, and she looked like she would not allow death to come today for her without a fight. Perhaps she would win this, and she and Clarke would be able to talk about her confession that Lexa had barely acknowledged. Clarke had to admit that she was a bit worried that Madi's blood color would affect other aspects of her growth, and she was sure that talking to Lexa could ease some of her worries.
"I'm glad you came. Both of you," Lexa told her, staring at her for a moment. Then she glanced down at Madi for a moment, and Clarke had to realize that this was the first time she was not shielding Madi from Lexa.
"Me too." Clarke responded. There were a million more things she wanted to say, perhaps I love you, but it wasn't the time. There might never be time. Lexa grabbed her sword from its sheath, and the crowd cheered. Apparently this meant that the battle had begun, because Roan charged Lexa. She dodged, then spun around to slice at his back. Roan stopped for a moment to stare at Clarke, then spun around to begin stalking towards Lexa again. Lexa swung her sword in a downward arc, hitting Roan's sword in the process. She pushed him further and further back, missing each time but not allowing him the time to respond.
Suddenly, the two swords were locked, and Lexa seemed to be pushed down a bit, struggling to hold her position. Clarke could have sworn she saw Roan say something, but the crowd was cheering too loudly for anyone to pick it up but Lexa. Still, Lexa grabbed his sword by the blade, cutting her hand in the process. Clarke was terrified, terrified that this might be Lexa's last, but she managed to push Roan back again. Roan swung again, but Lexa ducked underneath it. There were a few more swings, and then suddenly Lexa was on her hands and knees on the ground. Lexa was not going down so easily though, and she kicked Roan downward as well. Roan dropped his sword, and Lexa grabbed that as well. Roan backed up a bit, glancing around and punching a guard. Then he grabbed the guard's spear, smart enough to realize that he could not survive Lexa without a weapon. The entire crowd booed, and Clarke finally got the indication that most of them were cheering for Lexa. They'd for the most part cheered every second, leaving her quite confused on who they wanted to win.
Roan swung his new weapon around for a bit, perhaps getting used to the balance of it or showing off. Then the two of them were locked in battle again, swinging and missing over and over again. All of a sudden, Roan managed to knock one of her swords out of her arms, and then the other. Lexa was defenseless, and Roan took a moment to kick her down. Roan stalked forward, grabbing his spear and readying it to end this. He went to stab it, and Lexa quickly rolled herself to the side. Lexa kicked her leg around, forcing Roan to the ground as well. Roan kept swinging at her, and suddenly Lexa grabbed Roan's speer. She slashed Roan's leg, and kept hitting him until Roan went down. Lexa went to end it, and Queen Nia finally stood up from her throne.
"Gyon op!" she called, continuing with something more that Clarke couldn't quite understand but understood was probably berating Roan. Lexa looked between the Nia and Roan.
"Jus drein jus daun." Lexa said, turning and throwing the spear at Nia. It hit in the abdomen, and Nia stumbled back into her throne. Everyone was shocked, not expecting that and Clarke had to admit she wasn't either. Still, Nia was dead now, and Clarke wished she could feel bad about the relief she felt at that, "The Queen is dead! Long live the king!"
"Long live the king!" the crowd echoed, "Heda! Heda! Heda! Heda! Heda! Heda!"
Lexa had won, and Clarke smiled at her for a moment.
Clarke retreated to her room with Madi, redistributing their things and then taking a moment to admire the view. She heard a knock on the door, and she walked over to let Lexa in.
"Is this 'I told you so'?" she asked her.
"No. This is 'Thank you.'"
"Come in. Madi's sleeping right now, and she won't be up to be fed for a while still." Clarke told her, opening the door. Clarke noticed the hand that had held the sword, and she grabbed it for a moment, "Sit down. Let me change that for you."
Clarke closed the door and made her way to where Lexa now sat.
"That girl that was with Nia, Ontari. What will happen to her?"
"She won't be back until the Conclave after my death."
"Do you ever talk about anything other than your death?" Clarke teased her, ripping a strip of cloth off to use as a bandage.
"Thank you for backing me. For trusting me. It couldn't have been easy to do after I betrayed you last time, but I stand by what I promised you. Your daughter will not be acknowledged as a natblida. She will not be taken away from you, and she will not be forced to participate in the conclave."
"Thank you."
"I do have a question. Is the father… Is her father the boy Finn? Or did someone else get you pregnant? I was under the impression that your people did not produce the blood until I met your daughter."
"Finn was her father. I don't really know why she was born with that blood, but I did my research and I came up with a plan to protect her."
"When did you find out that you were expecting?"
"In Mount Weather. When I was in medical. From there, I knew I had to escape. So I did, and I got my people out. Then I went on my way to ensure that she was going to be okay when she was born. Now I have a question. Your ambassadors, they betrayed you. How do you move forward?"
"They were doing what they believed was right for their people."
"Reshop, heda," Clarke said, standing up.
"Good night, Ambassador," Lexa said, walking out and closing the door behind her.
