Disclaimer: I do not own The 100 or any of its characters.
Author's note: at the end.
WAR ON ICE
A taste.
As Lexa and Clarke sat down to eat dinner during one of their battle strategy sessions, Clarke's eyes widened. "What is this?"
"Fish eggs," Lexa answered, watching the blonde's face. "In older times, I believe they called it 'caviare.' It's a delicacy."
"I've read about this!" Clarke exclaimed, looking at the pink pebbles closely. "This was a dish for nobles and kings because it took so much time to prepare. They have to extract the eggs from the female fish as soon as she lays them, and there's only a short period of time where the eggs are tender and flavorful." Delight radiated from Clarke's face at the words, still staring down at the bowl. "How did you get this?"
"You may think my people are savages, Clarke," said Lexa, moving to place a generous spread of caviare on Clarke's plate, "but we are capable of preserving and indulging in certain luxuries."
Clarke laughed, leaning to gently butt her shoulder into Lexa's. It was a friendly gesture. Mild in nature. It denotes familiarity and comfort. The grounders didn't do it, because physical ramming like that was a sign of violence and battle, but the Sky People did. Lexa had observed their interactions with one another during these past few weeks of working together to flush out the mountain men. They were openly affectionate with one another, their actions not prefaced by war in the way Trikru's had been conditioned. They were soft, welcoming, warm. And Lexa enjoyed experiencing it, even if only briefly.
"Do you like it?"
Clarke was hunched over her plate, having just dipped a piece of fire-baked bread into the caviare. She turned to Lexa, raised her eyebrows, and then dove back into her food, pouring even more caviare onto her dish and breaking off more pieces of bread. Lexa felt her lips itch up to form a smile.
"I'm glad you enjoy it," Lexa said softly. And she meant it. She continued to gaze at Clarke, who was greedily indulging in one of the few delicacies Lexa could offer her. She hadn't put any caviare on her own plate, but she didn't need to. She just wanted Clarke to enjoy it.
She wanted Clarke to taste what little of the good life there was on the ground.
o - o - o - o - o - o
Chapter 2
As soon as their eyes met, several things happened at once. On her end, Lexa's eyes flashed with something that resembled relief as soon as she saw Clarke. Green bore into blue with that quaint intensity Clarke had grown accustomed to with Lexa. She was at once commanding and open, happy yet sad.
But Clarke didn't gaze into her eyes for too long. A moment later, she'd rushed over to the Commander and placed a small, silver dagger to her throat.
"Clarke!" Abby yelled, but Clarke ignored her. She pressed the blade ever so slightly to Lexa's flesh. To her surprise, blood as black as the night started to bead at the place where the knife tore into Lexa's flesh.
How can that be, Clarke vaguely wondered, watching the black beads thicken to a solid strand. How can anyone's blood bleed anything other than red?
But it didn't matter. This was about Lexa. This was about her betrayal. That was about blood having blood, no matter what color it was. This was about revenge.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slit your throat," Clarke whispered, her breath hot against Lexa's face. Her eyes flicked from the now dripping blood to Lexa's eyes. "One good reason."
Lexa merely stared back calmly at her, unblinking and unalarmed. "You have every right to kill me, Clarke. I betrayed you and stranded your people."
Goddamnit! Clarke bristled. From the moment they'd first met, Lexa had operated with that cool, calm, and collected consistency you only ever read about in books. No one could be that controlled all of the time, but somehow, Lexa was. She'd stared at a giant gorilla hunting her and merely whipped out her sword, assuring Clarke that death is not the end. She'd watched a missile strike and destroy one of her villages with not even the faintest trace of a reaction on her face. Right now she gazed intently into Clarke's eyes with a knife placed at her throat while deep in enemy territory.
"So you want me to do it?" Clarke challenged, pressing the knife harder. More black blood spilled, but Lexa's gaze kept hers locked into place, unmoving and unreadable.
"That is quite enough."
Before she could stop it, Clarke was pushed aside-hard. Kane had elbowed her in the ribs and knocked the breath out of her. On her way down to the floor, Clarke looked over at Lexa. Her eyes had flashed, but not with the anger Clarke had wanted. They flashed with concern. For Clarke.
That look made Clarke's veins pulse and her lip snarl.
"Commander," said Kane evenly, stepping in front of Clarke and blocking her view of the grounder. His voice was cold yet in control. "You said you had important information for us?"
"Yes," said Lexa, catching her breath slightly.
"And that you've come here alone, without any of your army."
"Yes."
"That's unfortunate for you, then," Clarke sneered. The tension in the air tightened as Clarke pushed herself up, stepping around Kane. He didn't try and stop her. A crowd was beginning to form now, since they were standing right in the middle of the courtyard, but Clarke didn't care. She wanted them to see
"Clarke." It was Lexa this time who interjected, her voice light and still. "I have admitted to you already that I betrayed you and stranded your people."
"Admitted to me?" Clarke repeated, stepping closer and ignoring the soft tug Kane now attempted at her arm. Her eyes gazed into Lexa's again. She once sought comfort in those eyes, but at the moment, all she wanted to do was inflict pain into them. "You don't have to admit it to me, Heda. I was there. I know you abandoned us. And nothing you can say or do will ever make me or my people forgive you."
o - o - o - o - o - o
The Skaikru camp was not what Lexa expected it to be.
She'd been to the place they call the "drop ship" once, when Clarke led her there under the guise of turning Lincoln back into a man. The drop ship's walls were stiff and dented like metal that fell from the sky would be, but Arkadia felt more polished. It felt permanent and developed.
The interior of Arkadia was obviously worn but repaired and well-taken care of, much like some other places on the ground. The Sky People had wiped down the steel until it shined, and furs now lined the floor where Lexa and the guard stood. They were in a small waiting room of sorts. Kane had instructed her to stay put and make herself "comfortable" while he gathered his council. Although the furs were certainly a nice touch, Lexa didn't find the steel box to bring much comfort. She didn't think anything in this camp would, given her initial welcome. Given Clarke's welcome.
Did she really meant what she had said? That she nor anyone in Skaikru would ever forgive her? Lexa had come all this way, and she still felt that she had so far to go.
"Thank you for waiting, Commander."
Kane was back with a small group of people. Five, to be exact. Three men and two women. They were older and sage-looking, much like the elders of the various Trikru villages. And they weren't happy to see her.
"What do you want?" the one furthest to the left spat, actual spit falling out of his mouth as he glowered at her. He was older and gruff, with a ragged beard and sagging skin. "Shouldn't you be with your own people plotting to kill us all?"
"Felix, stop it," the woman next to him scolded, moving her arm to nudge him firmly in the ribs. She turned to look at Lexa now, her eyes wary yet kind. "Our apologies, Commander. Some of these old geezers have forgotten their tact up in space."
The Sky People were so interesting. Lexa couldn't help but think that. Her own people hailed from a ritualistic culture where outbursts such as that were subject to harsh penalties. Everyone had a place and stayed in their place, with those pushing swiftly removed. But with the Sky People, no such dedication to place and status seemed to exist. There was a hierarchy, of course, but even that was flexible. Take Clarke for instance-the grounder-determined leader of Skaikru who was in all actuality the criminal daughter of a woman on the council. The official leaders accepted Clarke's challenge, though, allowing her to release prisoners and take charge and strategize with Lexa about their most recent battle.
That would simply never happen in Trikru. Lexa would kill anyone who dared try to lead with, for, or against her.
Although she found these Sky People interesting, Lexa was starting to lose patience with them. She respected the elderly. Revered them, even, as she'd done her own grandmother who passed down such integral wisdom to her. But this old man did not seem to understand who she was and how her customs demanded respect. And he didn't seem to quite grasp how easily she could tear off his head from his torso without even using a weapon.
"My father was born on the ground," Felix continued, taking a step closer. In the dim light, Lexa could see the hatred pour from his light brown eyes. "He was a Sergeant in The United States military, stationed in Washington DC, what you people have foolishly call TonDC. This is his land. My land."
"Enough." Everyone was surprised to hear Lexa's soft growl. She raised her head, meeting the old man's glower. "I am not here for you to insult my culture and my people. And I am not here to listen to you to seize rights to land that ceased to be yours the moment the world was set afire and your family escaped into space. There are but three types of people now: sky, mountain, and ground. And since Clarke completely obliterated the mountain men, it's just us now. But we are not the only people on the ground, which is why we need to talk and why you need to listen."
That did the trick. It shut the old man up. It made everyone tilt their heads with concern. Sighing, Lexa looked back at Kane and began to tell him everything she knew about the Ice Nation and why it mattered to each and every one of them.
o - o - o - o - o - o
Several hundred miles north, Queen Nia dug her knife straight into the heart of a piece of steak. Its juices splattered all across the table. She stared at it unflinchingly, her steely blue gaze trained on the incision point.
"Get me a towel," she snapped at the woman standing obediently in the corner. She was tall and thin, with striking green eyes and a long scar crookedly drawn from the center of her nose to the bottom of her left earlobe. She had the air of having once been beautiful but recently tainted.
"Sha, my Queen," she answered, her voice low as she approached the table and held out a thin piece of cloth. Nia snatched it from her, moving to carefully wipe down the bend of the blade as she pulled it out of the meat, her eyes never leaving its surface.
"It seems like you'll be reunited with your lover sooner than you thought," Nia sneered. The woman stiffened but remained silent. "They're having a summit near the intruder's camp. Did you know that Leksa com Trikru traveled all the way there on her own days ago, to visit the Sky People?" Her eyes flashed. "To visit a certain blonde named Clarke?"
At that the woman did react. Her face frowned ever so slightly. Nia laughed and then returned to eating her steak, digging the knife into it as hard as she could every single time she cut off a bite.
Author's note:
Thanks so much for reading! What do you think? :) I always wondered how Lexa would fare at Arkadia, and how Clarke would react to Lexa being in her territory for once. Have a good one! Next chapter soon.