Chapter Six
Throughout the day the doubts of those around her began to irritate Heda. Frankly, she was surprised that they were surprised that she, herself, would actually fight. Who better? She was the Commander, a proven warrior. And now Clarke, begging her not to fight, apparently convinced of Lexa's imminent failure and death. How can no one have any faith in her? Instead of those around her supporting her decision, backing her skills and her strength, filling her with confidence, it was she convincing them!
Heda spoke to her advisers, a word of comfort and inspiration to Aden and several words to Clarke who today as a member of the thirteen, appears just as desperate to preserve her life as yesterday she would have liked to have seen it end - at her own hand no less. But true to her word, Heda stuck to her decision, defying them all. She will let Clarke have no faith in her because that's really all she deserves as far as Clarke and Skaikru are concerned. But she would earn that faith again, hopefully starting by winning this battle today.
The battle itself was not without its challenges but Heda won it quickly, convincingly and without serious injury. Rather than killing Prince Roan as expected, as dictated by the terms of the combat, Heda showed him mercy. However, she recognised that blood must have blood, and so threw the bladed spear that hovered over Prince Roan's heart across the arena and directly into the heart of his mother, the Ice Queen.
Blood must have blood. It was she, afterall, who had initiated this conflict, wreaked this havoc upon Skaikru, undermined the Coalition and challenged Heda - not Prince Roan. He would now be elevated to King of Azgeda, the Ice Nation and Lexa trusted he would make a better ally than his mother had ever done.
With all of this political upset finally settled; Heda's leadership undisputed, the Coalition on firmer ground and Skaikru under her protection, Lexa could finally relax. Speaking to Indra and Gaia, she told them of her decision to take an unannounced rest period, where all but the most urgent issues would be delegated and the remainder of her time would be for riding out, solitary reflection and rest.
They assumed that she was hiding an injury and she took this opportunity to express her disappointment in them. She spoke calmly, outlining her specific issues and refused to allow them to respond. The lack of support they provided in the lead up to the combat was by far the most publicly humiliating but it was preceded by their determination to undermine her decisions regarding the Coalition, the thirteenth clan and her intentions regarding Wanheda.
They had both been determined to persuade Heda to come around to their choices rather than the other way around and their refusal to get on board with her agenda. Both were left speechless. Again, she did not allow them to respond, she reaffirmed that she was without injury, she was taking a rest period, they were to mention it to no one and they should use this time to work out if they could not find a way to be more supportive of her and her decisions in future or resign their posts. With that she left the Throne room without looking back.
Lexa took some time to spend with Aden, just some one on one, to discuss the battle, the political situation and she joked that he would have to bide his time after all. It was a small joke, once he got over the implication he flashed her a grin, promising that he was enjoying his training very much and was in no hurry to try to fill her shoes. She tousled his hair as he was leaving, then pulled him back into a strong embrace, she had never done that before and he wondered what it meant. She reminded him that she was still wearing her shoes and he nodded, dashing off to training, grateful for the personal contact with his mentor.