A/N - I had over twenty reviews on the last chapter! That's amazing and I love you guys so, so much :) Hope you enjoy this one, please let me know what you think! x
Eight out of the twelve clan leaders still present stared at her in shock. Roan grinned and started slowly clapping. Indra just smiled and shook her head, having seen it coming for a while. Luna gave her own grin and winked at her friend happily prompting Lexa to roll her eyes at the Boat Leader.
Once the other eight had began recovering from the sheer shock of such an out of the blue announcement, various emotions started to play out across their faces, some were confused, some were suspicious of the motives behind the whole thing. However, more than a few looked jealous of the arrangement, although it wasn't entirely clear who they were jealous of.
Clarke quickly cleared her throat to get their attention, "As the Commander said, we are planning the ceremony and we will be combining both Trikru and Skaikru customs. As part of that there will be an extended period before the bonding itself which my people refer to as an engagement."
Lexa nodded in agreement at Clarke and then looked back to the clan leaders, "We are telling you this now as a show of respect but we ask that you keep it to yourselves until we make the public announcement."
"Of course Heda." Came the answering chorus, most still too surprised and caught up in their own reactions to fully register what was going on after the initial statement.
Luna fixed Lexa with a curious, questioning stare, which Lexa responded to with a slight inclination of her head, in a promise to speak with her privately at a later date.
"That is everything so if no one has anything further to discuss?" Lexa glanced around quickly but it was clear that no one had anything to add so she stood up and left, the leaders dropping to their knees as she past.
Clarke caught up to her in the hall moments after, "You just kicked someone out of a window." She remarked casually, linking her arm with Lexa's.
Lexa stared at her impassively, "Yes Clarke, I kicked a man out of a window to fall to his death. Is that a problem?"
With a slight laugh Clarke shook her head, "I would've thought that it would have been but surprisingly that's not what was going through my head."
Sighing Lexa stopped walking to face Clarke head on, "Go on then Clarke, what were you thinking?"
Quickly checking round to make sure they were alone, Clarke pushed her shoulder gently until she was against the wall, leaning in close until they were nose to nose, "I was thinking that you can kill a man without blinking, but you cried when we kissed."
Lexa's lips parted slightly and a red tinge colored her cheeks as Clarke leaned forwards and kissed her, holding her close before drawing back, "That's what I was thinking Commander." She whispered against Lexa's mouth.
Then they heard someone approaching from around the corner, they pulled back quickly and shifted to look as though they had been mid conversation.
"Oh please, who do you think you're kidding?" Octavia grinned as she reached them, "You expect me to believe that you two stopped in the middle of a boring corridor to discuss...what? The color of the walls?"
Lexa growled under her breath as Clarke chuckled and slapped the back of Octavia's head, "You're lucky I love you Octavia. Anyway so how do we think the clan leaders reacted to our engagement announcement?" She asked Lexa curiously, who smirked.
"I think the overwhelming majority wish they could take my place." She pitched her voice low and Clarke chuckled as she leaned in to her, but Octavia clapped her hands loudly in front of them.
"Come on guys I'm right here, save this for your bedroom."
Shaking her head in amusement, Lexa waved an arm ahead of them, "We should go and talk to the rest of your people Clarke, they should know about Octavia changing clans before we announce it to the rest of the capitol."
Octavia grinned happily, "When is that happening anyway? Cause you said to Indra that we'll be going back to TonDC but I thought we were staying in the capitol."
With Lexa explaining as they walked, Clarke walked a pace behind, leaving them in peace to discuss the ceremony, "TonDC is at the very heart of the Trikru lands and all our most important clan rituals happen there. We will travel together and Indra will preside over the ceremony, then we'll come back here to resume our usual day to day duties."
Octavia remained in a thoughtful silence for a few moments until she turned her head back to Lexa. "Is there anything particular about this ceremony that I should know ahead of time."
Lexa smiled, "As part of it you will receive a tattoo, all Trikru have at least one tattoo which is given when they reach their sixteenth winter, or when they enter the clan at any age past that. If I were you I would ask Clarke for assistance with designing it, it should have meaning to you personally as well as some element that links back to the Trikru.
Reaching the door that led to the Skaikru common room they paused, "We can talk more about it later, are you ready?" Lexa asked her seriously, aware that moving from one clan to another was never a casual affair.
Octavia nodded quickly to Lexa who pushed open the doors, finding all the Skaikru already gathered except for Abby who was still under guard in her room. Lexa quickly motioned for the nearest guard to go and fetch the Doctor from her room.
Kane jumped up as they came in and offered his own seat on the couch to Lexa, who took it with a thankful nod in his direction, beckoning Clarke over to sit next to her. Mindful of the group of people present who were not aware of their engagement, Clarke didn't shuffle closer as she wanted to and instead just relaxed backwards into the couch as Octavia perched on the arm of the opposite one.
Lexa calmly kept quiet until Abby arrived, passively overlooking the questioning looks she was getting and the badly concealed glare from one young man in the corner of the room.
When Abby did arrive she was more subdued than Lexa had expected her to be, taking a seat without so much as a whisper and brushing off the hushed questions about why she had been isolated from them all day, before focusing in on Lexa calmly.
Kane clapped his hands together softly, "So to what do we owe this pleasure Commander?" He grinned light heartedly.
The corners of Lexa's mouth twisted upwards slightly, Kane had a gift for lifting the mood in a room, "We just came from a meeting with the thirteen clan leaders, it has been agreed by unanimous vote that Octavia is being initiated into the Trikru fully."
There was a pregnant pause after her words and then they all turned to Octavia, shooting questions at her, so many it was impossibly for her to hear them all, let alone answer them.
Lexa stood up quickly, "Enough!" She yelled over them, they quietened immediately and sat back down, "There are many reasons for this and they are Octavia's to give as she chooses, it is not for you to demand answers from her."
"She's the one betraying us though." The angry looking one in the corner spat out, "Leaving us to go be a grounder full time, leaving us to shack up with the same grounders that have killed so many of us."
Narrowing her eyes, Lexa recognized him as the one that had reacted badly to Azgeda being in the city, Clarke had told her his name, "Jacobs?" She asked softly.
"Yeah that's me." He puffed his chest out like a preening peacock and it took all Lexa had not to throw her knife across the room and end him right there and then.
"Is it usual for you to disrespect your leaders?" Her voice was low and there was a dangerous edge to it that everyone but seemingly him picked up on.
He frowned, "How can she lead us when she isn't even one of us? Actually this is good, she's always been more grounder than us, now she can leave and take her grounder boyfriend with her. Hell, how can we even trust her? After all, she's become real close friends with that Ice Nation bitch!"
Whatever Lexa was about to say in response was lost as Octavia yelled fiercely and leapt across the couch, slamming into Jacobs and landing on top of him as he hit the floor with a heavy thud. Before anyone could react her fist had connected with his face.
Clarke and Lexa responded quickly, grabbing an arm each to haul Octavia off of him before she could land a second punch. Raven stood up to help them as well, getting in the middle and holding up her hands, saying anything that came into her head in an attempt to calm her friend down.
The rest of them came together to haul Jacobs up into a kneeling position, ready for judgement from the Commander.
Once Octavia stopped struggling against them they released her arms quickly, leaving Raven to ensure she didn't make another attempt to throw herself at the boy as Lexa and Clarke stood shoulder to shoulder in front of him.
Lexa glared at him fiercely and her hand twitched to the knife at her hip, but then she physically took a step back and nodded to Clarke, "He is of your clan Clarke, it is your responsibility to decide his fate."
Clarke nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to them, "I want him locked up until you leave for Arcadia, if he gives a full apology to the Commander and those he has wronged, including King Roan and Ontari of Azgeda for his prejudice against their clan, then I will consider letting him return with you." Nodding to one of Lexa's guards who were stood against the door, she beckoned him to take the wide eyed boy away.
"You can't do this!" He yelled as they dragged him from the room, "Let me go!"
When the doors had swung shut again, Clarke sat back down calmly, waiting until Octavia had done the same, "Now does anyone have any sensible comments about what we have told you?"
Abby, surprisingly, stepped in, "Are you sure you want this Octavia? I know you train like the Trikru but it may be very different once you are one of them." Her tone was warm and it calmed the tension in the room and everyone started to breath easier.
Octavia smiled and answered without hesitation, "I have never been more sure of anything. And the kill order is being lifted on Lincoln so he will be able to come back to Polis."
Kane looked at Lexa in surprise, "You're lifting the kill order Commander?"
Nodding Lexa looked at Octavia before her gaze was turned back to Kane, "Yes I am, for everything he has done for both our peoples and as a gift for Octavia's initiation into my clan. I felt he more than deserves it and the other clan leaders unanimously voted in agreement."
"Well..." Clarke piped up, chuckling when Lexa shook her head at her despairingly.
Raven took that as an opportunity to stand and pull Octavia into a firm hug, "If this is what you want and you're completely sure then I am happy for you!"
Lexa smiled at them and motioned to Clarke, "Come on, we need to be at the funeral rites soon and you should change."
They excused themselves quickly and headed back to their room.
Just outside the city was a massive funeral pyre, the bodies of the dead laid out carefully on top, with the bodies of the rebel Skaikru in the center to burn with their victims.
Clarke and Lexa were both in full armor and war paint. Clarke's was the same paint she had worn for the summit to welcome Skaikru into the coalition and her armor was almost the exact same as Lexa's except for the sky blue sash in place of the Commander's red.
The people of Polis gathered around, not organized by clan or rank, but instead gathered as one people to mourn together for those they had lost.
A platform had been built next to the pyre for Lexa to stand upon where she could be seen by all, and Clarke stood right next to her as Wanheda rather than the clan leader for Skaikru.
"Kru kom Polis!" Lexa cried out loudly, her voice carrying out clearly to all those who had gathered to pay their final respects to those that had fallen.
"Raun faya, oso wada klin laudnes-de kom fotaim!"
The torch was placed in her hand and she lowered it carefully, to touch the end to the straw lining the border of the pyre. It caught quickly and she took a step back, handing the torch off to someone stood beside her before taking her place next to Clarke once more.
They held a silent vigil, along with the people, until the final flickering flames had burnt down and the crackle of the fire eating up the wood faded.
The sun had just started to rise when they finally climbed down from the platform and headed back towards the tower to get some sleep.