Disclaimer: I do not own The 100 or any of its characters.

Author's note: at the end.

WAR ON ICE

A possession.

"What is this for?" Clarke was holding up a weapon. It was a small, thin, and sharp blade, too small to be a primary weapon but too precise and well-carved to be for show. It was unlike anything Clarke had seen the grounders wield in battle. It was also nicer than any of the grounder weapons Clarke came across, which were usually dull and well-worn as well as made from any materials that happened to be available.

They were in Lexa's chambers and the brunette turned around to look at what was in Clarke's hands. Her eyes widened.

"That is not for play," she said quickly, moving to take the blade. Their hands brushed in the process.

Clarke felt a certain kind of tension fill the air between them. She could cut through it with the tip of that fine blade. And what was worse is that she didn't know what she'd done wrong, as she'd touched and examined numerous of Lexa's possessions without retribution before.

"What is it, Lexa?" Clarke went over to her. Lexa was sitting on her bed with the sword in her hands, her fingers cupping the edge of the blade. Clarke sat down beside her. "Talk to me."

Talking wasn't Lexa's favorite thing to do. Nodding and narrowing her eyes was more of Lexa's preferred language, as Clarke experienced from the very first day they met. They'd entered a stalemate at the dropship over Lincoln, eyes flashing to other eyes and nods directed across the room. It was surely hard for Lexa to open up in a society where she'd been taught to permanently shut down. But Clarke wanted her to try, if only for her own selfish purpose of being better able to understand her.

Lexa was quiet for a moment as she continued to run her fingers up and down the blade. She finally sighed, long and soft. "This sword was Costia's."

Costia. That was Lexa's lover whose head the Ice Queen had delivered to Lexa's bed in the middle of the night before their big coalition. Lexa talked to Clarke about it exactly one time: at the pyre where Finn's body burned. Lexa might have meant for it to be comforting, to tell Clarke how deeply she'd mourned and then how eventually she moved on. But at the time Clarke remembered thinking Lexa might have been a psychopath for the way she'd cut off all her feelings entirely.

"Was Costia a warrior, too?" Clarke's tone was gentle, and she found herself leaning in closer to Lexa.

"No." Sadness filled Lexa's eyes, which she immediately cleared before glancing back at Clarke, looking somewhat lost.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Maybe Clarke was pushing Lexa too far. Perhaps she was going too far, talking about personal matters like this as if they'd known each other all their lives and regularly confided in one another.

Sharing and opening up was a natural impulse for Clarke. At least with people she cared about. She found it hard to contain herself.

"She was the daughter of an ambassador," Lexa said after a while, her hand still on the blade. "From a clan farther to the south by the ocean."

Clarke felt herself grow curious, as she didn't know much about the grounder roles and societal structures. "Did that make her an ambassador as well?"

"Not quite. She traveled with her father to Polis for official duties, but she wanted to be a healer."

"Like Nyko."

"Yes." Lexa gave a small smile. "He was going to take her on as his second, actually. He was stationed in Polis before the coalition began."

It was hard for Lexa. Clarke could tell how difficult it was for her to talk about Costia, to share that part of her life and her heart with Clarke. Her hand still gripped the blade, as if afraid it would slip away, and she barely ever looked up at Clarke. She continued to stare down at the sword.

"So, I'm not a healer or an ambassador," Clarke continued, trying to lighten the mood, "and I have to wonder where this sword comes in?"

They talked for a long time there on Lexa's bed. About Costia, about healers, about Polis, about the craftsman who made the sword especially for Costia so she could learn how to defend herself. Eventually Lexa set the blade against the wall as they continued to talk. The torch was starting to burn out, but they kept talking, learning more and more about one another's cultures.

o - o - o - o - o - o

Chapter 8

Homosexuality was not forbidden on the ground but was also not… encouraged. Especially not in Azgeda, where their power existed in numbers and where children born to mothers and fathers in a family unit were deemed to fare exceptionally well in battle. Of course children still "appeared" from outside the confines of partnership, but nobody ever talked about that. The children just moved in with their fathers and life carried on.

It was hard, then, for Costia to adjust to this lifestyle. This part of the Azgeda culture was the most surprising part to her. Love is love, as far as Costia and many other people from the south were concerned. She'd always been attracted to women. No one had ever punished her for it. Life is too short to judge and to squander what little happiness that may exist in the world.

Well, unless you're Queen Nia.

Costia knew Nia held she and Lexa's relationship against the Commander. It wasn't prudent, Nia had said on more than one occasion as she'd tortured Costia. It wasn't useful for anything. Such a relationship would never bear children, so it was thus futile, meant for pleasure only. And life was about surviving, not leisuring.

And so Costia lived, adjusting as she went.

Costia spent the morning gathering laundry around the camp. It was cold, so she needed to wash the clothes close to the fire to prevent her fingers from freezing. She'd been doing laundry the past several days as prolonged punishment for her recent stay in the prison, and she sensed that something was happening. The warrior chiefs were sterner than usual, and stopping to chat less and less as the days went on. War was in the air, as the other girls told her. Azgeda felt war in their bones, like Costia herself could sense a storm brewing in the sea.

Will Nia finally advance on Lexa and her coalition?

The thought lingered in Costia's mind. It was no secret Nia still sought control over all the clans. That point had again become apparent to Costia during her long days of imprisonment, where Nia would talk amongst her war chiefs and make Costia wait on them hand and foot. Nia was persistent. Relentless. And Costia suffered because of it.

At first Costia fought through it, determined to get back to Lexa. To defend Lexa. To be by her side again. But as the days and weeks and months and years went on, Lexa didn't come for her. She didn't even send scouts or mercionaries. She didn't do anything.

"I can see how much she loves you," Nia would sneer, her blue eyes twinkling. "Perhaps you're a worthless hostage after all. Perhaps I should slit your throat and be done with it."

Lexa's abandonment hurt Costia. She'd known the girl for practically their entire lives, and she'd have hoped Lexa would try to save her from the misery of Azgeda. If not for their love, then for her people, and the principle of a south clan member being trapped in the far corners of the north.

So war was coming, they all said. Lexa was likely in trouble. As Costia stoked the fire and turned back to her laundry, refreshing the water with fresh flowers and oils, she wasn't even sure if she cared about this war.

o - o - o - o - o - o

Lexa had to figure out what was happening.

She'd been taking it slow, letting the warriors drag them along from patch of wood to patch of wood. They were dull men whose conversations revolved around absolutely nothing. They talked about hunting, about eating, about killing, and that's essentially it. From the few interactions they'd had, Lexa got the sense that they didn't speak English.

Five simple, useless goons. How was it they were able to sneak inside Lexa's tent before she could stop it?

Lexa could never forgive herself for that. It showed remarkable weakness for her to be so easily captured. Lexa imagined Nia sent these men assuming they'd fail-assuming Lexa's army would butcher them in half with the flat end of their spears. Except Lexa didn't have her army with her. She was advocating for peace. Nia caught her off guard and what might have been intended as a warning sign became an actual abduction.

"What are they saying?" Clarke whispered. She was trying to keep up, but she couldn't. Lexa couldn't blame her. It was hard learning a new language.

"Absolutely nothing of interest," Lexa sighed, leaning her head back against the tree she was tied to. "These men are utter morons."

Clarke chuckled, and Lexa felt the urge to smile. She hadn't smiled in such a long time. Had it been weeks? She had a feeling that she used to smile more, before the mountain. Before the betrayal. Before Clarke decided she wanted nothing to do with her anymore.

"What are we going to do, Lexa?" Clarke was serious again. Her blue eyes were clouded with concern. "I'm worried about my people."

"Your people will be fine."

"How do you know?"

There it was again: the blame. The hostility. The distrust. Lexa could understand that. She herself was slow to ever trust the words of another person. Their current circumstances certainly didn't change what happened and what Lexa had done. But she still felt herself grow impatient, because they didn't have time for this.

"It's not your people they're after," Lexa finally said slowly.

"Who are they after, then?" Lexa turned to look at Clarke again. She was so sincere. So pure. Clarke probably didn't think she was pure after all that she'd done at the mountain, and perhaps she wasn't. But in this moment, Lexa felt that she was. And she didn't want to hurt her.

"We need to make a plan," Lexa sighed instead, glancing down at the ground. "Any ideas?"

Author's Note:

Thanks so much for reading! What are your thoughts? I'm having a lot of fun writing and fleshing out Costia's character, by the way :)