Nia ushered Clarke and Roan out of the room quickly before anyone could stop them. She led them down to the floor where the Azgeda delegation stayed. "You both did well," Nia started. "You have a lot of preparing to do for tomorrow." That was all she said before she left them alone and disappeared into her room.
Clarke and Roan walked further down the hall until they came to Clarke's room and they both entered. Roan walked over to the table in her room and leaned up against it while Clarke chose to pace the floor. There was no backing out of the trials now and neither one of them were going to try anything to disobey Nia. This was going to happen. "I'm sorry you won't get to be with Nadia," Clarke started. Nadia was the woman that Roan had fallen in love with. She was also the mother of his child Kai. Nia has them both prisoner and Roan has been forced to do whatever his mother asks of him to keep them safe.
Roan crossed his arms over his chest, "It's alright. She was never a high enough station anyway, Azgeda never would have accepted our bonding. I'm sorry you won't get to be with the Commander."
Clarke sighed, "We knew what we were doing was risky."
"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," Roan said. Clarke's shoulders deflated and she nodded her agreement. "I don't think she likes me very much," he added.
Clarke snorted, "She doesn't. I've been trying to change her mind on that, but she is not a fan of you or anyone Azgeda. I expect it'll be even worse now."
"I'm sorry you've been caught in the middle of all of this. You do not deserve to be a pawn in my mother's games of power and control," Roan apologized.
"At least you're not the worst person to be bonded to," Clarke commented, trying to lighten the mood.
Roan smirked, "Yes, well I do think you're getting the better part of the deal." Clarke rolled her eyes and moved towards him to punch him on the shoulder. He just laughed it off and stood up from leaning on the table, "I supposed we should get to training. Two on eighteen is not going to be an easy fight. We need to make sure we can help each other survive this."
Just as Clarke was about to agree, a knock on the door sounded. "Enter," Clarke called.
The door opened and one of Lexa's guards entered the room, "Wanheda, Heda has requested your presence."
"Of course," Clarke said.
She turned to Roan who had a knowing look on his face. "How long do you think it will take before I can expect you?" he asked.
"Just get down to training. I'll meet you there as soon as I can," Clarke said and she followed the guard out of her room. She got into the elevator and was expecting to meet Lexa in the throne room, but instead was taken to Lexa's chambers. The guard motioned for her to enter and she did.
Clarke opened the door to Lexa's room where Lexa clearly had been waiting. Clarke barely had time to shut the door before Lexa's hands and lips were on her, pressing her back into the door.
Lexa had one hand on Clarke's cheek, the other on her waist and she was kissing Clare with a passion. Clarke moaned as she felt Lexa on her. The kiss was much more aggressive than any they had previously shared. Lexa kept pushing her body closer to the blonde, pinning her up against the wall, and she brought her hands down to Clarke's thighs. Clarke got the message and she let Lexa lift her up off the ground. Clarke wrapped her legs around Lexa's body as the kiss continued to heat up. The kiss lasted for a while, they're tongues clashing and both moaning into the others mouths. Clarke had been in a daze the moment her lips collided with Lexa's, but she knew she needed to snap out of it. "Lexa," Clarke tried to pull away, but the brunette was on her before she could say another word.
"Lex," Clarke tried again, breathing heavily. Lexa moved away from Clarke's lips, but instead of stopping she moved down, trailing kisses along Clarke's neck. "Not that I don't like where this is going," Clarke breathed, "But don't we need to talk?"
Lexa brought her mouth back to Clarke's, delivering one more kiss before releasing her. "You need to tell me what Nia has on you."
Clarke closed her eyes and sighed, "Lex, you know I can't. Even if I could you wouldn't be able to stop this from happening."
"Clarke I already lost you once because of her. I will not lose you again," Lexa spat.
Clarke unwrapped her legs from around Lexa and dropped to the floor. She reached up and cupped Lexa's cheeks, "You won't lose me in the trials. Roan and I will win."
Lexa pushed her face closer into Clarke's touch. Her eyes began to water slightly and her voice wavered as she spoke, "Clarke please. Nia has taken everything from me. She can't take you too."
Clarke saw the broken, pained look in Lexa's eyes and realized that Lexa was talking about more than just her. She was talking from experience, a very painful experience. "Costia," she whispered.
Lexa flinched at the name of her old love and she nodded. "Queen Nia took her from me. I was so close to breaking when I opened the box that contained her head, but I held it together. I formed the coalition and I stopped letting myself feel anything. Then you came along and all of those feelings that I have been trying to hide came rushing back. Leaving you at the mountain was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, and those two years you were missing…. I could barely breath, and now you're back. You're here and you're with me and I finally started breathing again. Clarke... I can't lose you again," the last part came out as a whisper.
Clarke had tears in her eyes but she didn't let them fall. She had lost Dax in the same way that Lexa had lost Costia, only Lexa's feelings had been much deeper than hers. She couldn't imagine losing the person that she loved in the way that Nia took Costia from Lexa. She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to Lexa's lips before parting, their foreheads resting on one another, "You will never lose me. Lexa there is nothing, nothing, that can stop this from happening, but I can win. I know you haven't seen a lot of me in a full on fight, but you have to have heard about what I do down in those sparring pits." Lexa nodded and Clarke continued, "I can win this Lexa. Roan and I, we have our own reasons to live, our own people to fight for, and I will never stop fighting for us. It is not over between you and me. I will fight and I will live. I will live for you."
Lexa kissed Clarke hungrily, again pushing her back into the wall behind her. "I will find a way to get you out of this," Lexa promised. It wasn't about the trials. There was nothing she could do to stop that. It was about the bonding, about Nia. Lexa was going to get Clarke back, no matter what it took.
"We'll figure it out together," Clarke said. Their lips collided again and the kiss grew heated quickly. Before it got too far, the two managed to separate. "I have to go and train with Roan. I know the odds for tomorrow aren't great but I just need you to trust me. We are not finished. I am going to survive tomorrow and you and I are going to find a way to live." That was the goal right? To live. To do more than survive. Clarke had told Lexa a while ago that living was the goal, and it still was. Life is about more than just surviving and Clarke was not going to let Nia prevent Clarke from achieving her goal. Clarke placed one more quick kiss to Lexa before she exited the room to meet Roan and start training.
/
Clarke had been with Roan for hours. The two had pushed themselves hard preparing for this fight. Roan had put Clarke on her back more times than she would have liked, but even so, she felt ready for this. She was fighting for so much more than just winning a fight. She had people to protect and she had a life still to live. No one was going to take that away from her.
Roan and Clarke had worked a lot on communication. Practicing for a fight with multiple opponents was not easy, but they both knew communication was important. They needed to work together if they wanted to survive. The friendship that the two had was definitely going to aid them when the time came.
They had spent some time working on their strategy and coming up with the best solutions they could for different scenarios. The problem with this fight is that they were unsure of exactly who their opponents would be. It was not likely that their opponents would be the very best warriors from each clan, but that didn't mean their opponents wouldn't be skilled. To add onto that, some of the warriors they would be facing would specialize in different weapons and different fighting styles, so they had to be prepared for anything and everything. The odds really did not look good for the two of them, but they had come up with a sound plan and they were both highly skilled. It would be difficult, and neither one of them would come out unscathed, but it would be possible.
Clarke and Roan were cleaning themselves up as best they could and were drinking heavily from their waterskins at the edge of the sparring pits. They had just finished up their training for the day. Then one of the tower guards came to them, "Wanheda, your presence has been requested in the throne room."
Clarke nodded to the guard and then turned to Roan. "I will see you tomorrow Clarke. Rest well and remember, you and I are in this together," Roan reiterated what he had once said to her back in Azgeda.
Clarke smiled at her friend and then made her way to the throne room. She stepped off the elevator and she saw Lexa standing outside of the throne room speaking to one of her guards. Lexa quickly noticed Clarke's approach and her brows furrowed, "Clarke, I thought you were training."
"I was," Clarke said. "Roan and I finished and I was told I was needed here. You didn't ask for me?"
"I didn't," Lexa said. "I was summoned here by Skaikru. Your people need to learn that they cannot summon the Commander to her own throne room."
Clarke took a deep breath. Skaikru summoning the both of them, this was not going to be good. "They're not my people anymore Lexa." Before Lexa could argue, Clarke reached out to open the door, "Let's just get this over with."
The two of them entered the throne room to see Abby, Kane, Bellamy, Lincoln, Octavia, Raven, Monty, and Harper all standing there. They looked like they had been waiting for the two of them to show up for a little while. Clarke and Lexa stood beside each other as they faced the group. Clarke was not in the mood for this, so when no one spoke, she decided to take the first step, "What is it you all want? If you haven't already heard I've got a big fight tomorrow and I'm going to need all my energy."
"We wanted to talk to you about that Clarke. We don't think that you should be taking these trials. You shouldn't have to fight for a marriage you don't even want," Abby said.
Clarke looked out into the faces before her. Most of them looked a little guilty for being there and ambushing her like this, but they were there nonetheless. "We or you?" Clarke asked. Her and her mother were still not on the best of terms and the fact that Abby continued to try and tell her what to do frustrated her to no end.
"Clarke look, we're your friends and we care about you," Octavia started, preventing mother and daughter from exploding at each other. "We don't want you to have to go into a fight like this that you don't want to be a part of."
"Of course I don't want to be a part of this, but that doesn't matter," Clarke snapped. She reeled herself in a moment later. She knew everyone in the room was just trying to protect her, but there was nothing they could do. She had asked them to trust her and for a while most of them had. Now was not the time for that to change. She inhaled deeply through her nose before continuing, "This fight is going to happen. None of you can stop it. If I'm going to win, then I need you all by my side. I need you to be there for me and to tell me I can do it. I need you to stand with me and not against me."
"We're all with you Clarke," Raven piped up.
The room was quick to agree, all except for Abby. "Clarke you need to stop this warrior act. You are stepping into an impossible fight."
Clarke could feel her anger spike. Her mother was really going to do this now? She was really going to say right before the fight that Clarke had no chance of winning? Clarke couldn't stop herself from exploding, "It has been an impossible fight ever since you sent us to the ground. It was an impossible fight when it was one hundred kids against an army of grounder warriors. It was an impossible fight against a mountain full of people who were hunting and torturing us. It has been an impossible fight from day one, but I am still here standing. I am not that little, naive girl that you sent down here in the dropship. I am not 'acting' like a warrior, I am a goddamn warrior. I have been through hell and back, and I am still on my feet. I am still pushing forward. From day one I have been protecting my people and to this day I still am. I am not a child, I stopped being one a long time ago. You need to stop telling me what to do because you have no say. I will not back out of the trial. I will not die during the trial. You've seen me spar but you haven't seen what I can really do. I've killed more people than any of you can possibly comprehend and tomorrow I will add more to that list. Tomorrow, Roan and I will stand victorious. You can either be there to see it or get the hell out of here because I don't need you. I am not that easy to get rid of, and I am not dying tomorrow." Clarke's face was bright red, but her eyes were burning with a new determination.
Lexa, along with most of those in the room were staring at Clarke in awe. Abby was staring at her daughter like she had just said the most outrageous thing in the world. Clarke could tell her mother wasn't done arguing and she was so close to blowing up completely and turning this fight into a physical one instead of a war of words, but Kane stepped in between the two and started to talk to Abby and Lexa was at Clarke's side pulling her away from the group. "You are incredible," Lexa whispered.
Clarke immediately calmed down at hearing Lexa's voice. She looked into those gorgeous green eyes and was able to reign herself in completely. She didn't see the fear over the trial that had been in Lexa's eyes earlier that day, and that meant everything to Clarke. Lexa believed in her and that was all that she needed. "Thank you," Clarke said, and Lexa seemed to understand exactly why Clarke was saying it. The two of them turned back to the group of Skaikru, "Now if that's all, we'll be leaving."
"Wait Clarke!" Octavia called, stopping Clarke and Lexa from leaving the room. Octavia ran to Clarke and wrapped the girl in a tight hug. Clarke hesitated momentarily, caught off guard, but then reciprocated happily and then everyone, other than Kane and Abby joined in. Clarke hugged and thanked each of her friends separately and each of them wished her luck and told her that they would be there for her.
When Clarke got to Raven there were tears running down her eyes. "You better not die tomorrow," she whispered into Clarke's ear.
"It'll take a lot more than a stupid trial to take me out Reyes," Clarke jested. "Oh and Raven, any progress on the mountain?"
Raven shook her head, "Not much, but Sinclair, Gina, Monty, and I are still working. Don't worry we'll figure it out."
"I have faith in you," Clarke said.
When Clarke finished up with Raven, Kane approached her. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder, "Good luck tomorrow." Clarke nodded, accepting his thanks. "And about your mother, she's just worried about you."
"Yeah? Well she has a shit way of showing it," Clarke complained.
Kane gave her a half smile, "I won't disagree with you there."
With that, Skaikru left the room. Abby didn't say anything to Clarke as she left, the two of them just made an awkward sort of eye contact as they passed. Once they were gone Clarke walked over to Lexa who held out her hand. Clarke happily interlocked their fingers and leaned in for a quick kiss. Then, the two of them were off to Lexa's room to get some rest before the trial tomorrow.
/
Clarke awoke early the next morning from another nightmare, but her body didn't react as it usually did. Instead of her entire body jerking awake, only her eyes shot open. She could feel herself wrapped up in something and after a few moments of calming her breathing, she realized she was wrapped in Lexa's arms. Lexa was running her hand up and down the length of Clarke's arm soothingly and she placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.
Clarke could see the early morning beginnings of daylight streaming in from the balcony. Her nightmares still haunted her, but she had been sleeping longer than she used to, which was an improvement. "How long do I have to stay here with you?"
"We have a little bit of time," Lexa answered. She moved so she was sitting up a little straighter, leaning against the headboard of her bed. She pulled Clarke up some and wrapped her arms fully around the blondes waist.
"I'm sorry about all of this. About you having to watch this and the bonding," Clarke said.
Lexa tightened her grip around Clarke protectively, "We will figure something out after you win, and you don't ever have to apologize to me for something that Nia is forcing you to do. I will make her pay for all the suffering she has caused you."
"And you and the rest of Azgeda," Clarke added. "She's hurt a lot people, not just me."
"You are all I care about right now," Lexa whispered into her ear and then she proceeded to leave a trail of kisses from Clarke's ear down to her neck.
Clarke tilted her head slightly to allow Lexa better access. When Lexa bit down on her pulse point, Clarke couldn't stop the moan that escaped her or shiver that surged through her body. "You know I'm going to win right?" She asked her breathing growing heavier. Lexa stopped what she was doing as Clarke continued, "She has forced me to do a lot of things. She has turned me into someone that even I fail to recognize. She will continue to do so, and I will continue to take it until I can find a way out. No matter what though, she is not going to see me fall. I will get through this."
Lexa sat up straight and rotated Clarke's body around so they were face to face. She wanted to say so much to the girl that she had allowed to enter heart, the girl she cared for more than she ever imagined possible. "I know you will. That's why I-" she stopped herself mid sentence. She knew what she wanted to say, what she had wanted to say for a long time now, but she just couldn't get the words out. "That's why you're you," she said instead.
Clarke smiled and leaned in to press her lips against Lexa. It was soft and gentle, and it expressed the emotions, the words, that neither of them were able to get out in that moment. They stayed locked in that moment for a while, drawing comfort from the others presence, the others touch, but eventually they had to return to reality. When they did, they were both breathing heavily and they rolled off the bed and started to get dressed for the day. They didn't say another word to each other as they dressed, as they didn't feel there was anything left to say.
Clarke was wearing her Azgeda furs and she had armed herself with a large amount of hidden blades. She was always armed with multiple hidden blades anyways because assassins always were, but Lexa had provided her with a few more that she strategically placed on her person. When she was dressed, she sat down on the floor in between Lexa's legs and allowed her to braid her hair for her.
When Lexa was done with Clarke's hair she moved to her closet and pulled out a small jar. She walked over to Clarke and held it out to her. It was full of the white war paint of Azgeda. Clarke was used to warpaint from when she would turn into The Shadow, but her paint was always black, and she figured it would be best not to wear The Shadow's design. "You do it," Clarke requested.
Lexa didn't deny her and she motioned to the chair she had been sitting in when she braided Clarke's hair, "Sit." Clarke did as she was told and when she was seated, Lexa began to apply the paint to her face.
When Lexa was done she found a mirror and held it up so Clarke could see. There was a thin mask that stretched from the edge of her hairline right above her ear over her eyes and to the other side of her face. There were two lines underneath each of her eyes that ran down and stopped about level with her lips, and it looked eerily similar to Lexa's own which Clarke loved. There was another line that reached up from the middle of each of her eyes to the middle of her forehead. Clarke was enthralled by the design. "Do you like it?" It was almost shy the way Lexa asked, and Clarke found it adorable.
"It's incredible," she replied. "You're incredible." She placed a loving kiss to Lexa's plump lips, but when she pulled away, her situation seemed to finally sink in.
Everything seemed to hit her at once. This was it, it was almost time. Clarke had spent the past day training hard and trying to convince everyone else that she could win, she hadn't fully convinced herself. "I'm really doing this," Clarke said.
Lexa watched as panic and a little fear started to settle over Clarke's face. She would be lying if she said she wasn't worried, but she did have faith in Clarke. From everything she had seen and heard about Clarke's fighting, she was good, and Roan she already knew was good. Clarke had been so confident this entire time, she couldn't let her falter now. "Hey," Lexa cooed. "You can do this. I will be there entire time so will your friends. We have faith in you. I know you can do this Clarke. You and me, we're not done yet."
Clarke took a deep breath and nodded, "No we're not. Let's go." Lexa took Clarke's hand in her own and interlocked their fingers. They left her room together and entered the elevator. Lexa's guards had been dismissed from the night before so no one saw them leaving Lexa's room together. The elevator descended the tower and right as the door opened, Lexa squeezed Clarke's hand and brought it up to her lips before releasing it. They walked out of the tower and towards the arena. Clarke could already hear the crowd that had gathered to watch, but she couldn't see them. She came to stop at the place where she was supposed to wait until her and Roan were called out. "I'll see you when it's over," Clarke said.
"Yes you will," Lexa agreed and then she made her way towards the arena to prepare for the beginning on the trials.
Clarke walked over to where she was supposed to wait and she found Roan. He was stretching his muscles and swing his sword around in a few practice strikes. When he saw her approaching he stopped, "You ready?"
Clarke nodded her head. She was nervous, but she also knew she could do this. She wasn't going to let her story end like this, not when there was so much for her to fight for, to live for. "We start together, we end together. Let's do this." She started to loosen up her muscles beside Roan and then, the sounds of the crowd outside died down. Then one voice started speaking to the crowd. Clarke and Roan both turned to face the entrance to the arena. It was time.
/
Lexa left Clarke behind to make her way into the arena. On the outside she looked calm and unbothered by the events soon to unfold, her back straight and her stoic mask firmly in place, but on the inside she was a mess. Her stomach was twisting in knots that made her feel nauseous and she could feel her heart pounding so hard in her chest it was reverberating throughout her body. She trusted Clarke, and she knew that Clarke was a very skilled warrior. Nia had made sure that was the case, but it didn't ease Lexa's nerves at all. Clarke may be good, but the odds were definitely not in Clarke's favor. Her and Roan were skilled, but eighteen versus two was not ideal. One mistake, one wrong motion, one missed attack, could lead to a bad injury. A bad injury slows you down, and in a fight with multiple opponents, speed and the ability to move freely is imperative. Clarke had seemed confident, especially last night when she convinced Skaikru, but this morning she had begun to panic. A little panic, a little fear is warranted in a fight such as this, but if it isn't controlled it can lead to mistakes. Lexa had done all she could to calm Clarke and return her confidence; hopefully she had done enough.
Lexa knew she needed to calm down. There was no point in worrying about what she couldn't control, and unfortunately she had no control. This fight came down to Clarke and Roan and there was no one who could intervene, no one who could help either of them if they needed it. She had to look forward, had to look ahead to the moment that Clarke and Roan came out victorious. The problem with that though, was that when that time did come, there would surely be injuries. There was no way they were going to come out of this fight unharmed. Plus, when they both came out, a bonding ceremony between the two would be scheduled. Lexa had just gotten Clarke back, she had just gotten to start spending time and being with the girl that she had cared for for over two years, and now it was possible she was going to lose her to Azgeda. She was going to do what she could to figure out a way to stop the bonding, to get Clarke to talk about why she was serving Nia, but so far Clarke seemed unwilling to share anything. That thought was a little concerning. Clarke was stubborn and if she didn't want to talk she wouldn't, but Lexa couldn't just let this ceremony happen and lose her. She would have to find a way to get Clarke to talk to her or she would have to solve the problem and fix it herself.
Lexa took a steadying breath as she entered the arena. The arena was booming with voices, everyone there ready and excited to watch the trials. Lexa took in the crowd. It was one of the largest she had ever seen for an event like this. It looked like almost all of Polis was there to see it, and because it was the Summit, Polis was bustling with more people than usual. She just hoped that the crowd wouldn't be too much of a distraction for Clarke during the fight. The area the warriors were supposed to fight in was a a large circular ring made of stone. There were multiple guards, each standing at attention with a spear in hand around the ring. The crowd was gathered behind the guards, around the circle, all standing nearly on top of each other to fit everyone. They surrounded almost the entirety of the circle, the only part the crowd wasn't, was where a giant wooden platform was set up. That was where she was supposed to watch the trials. There were fourteen seats on the platform, one for her and one for each of the clan leaders. Guards stood at the platform at attention as well, keeping everyone but the leaders away.
Most of the clan leaders already appeared to be there along with Titus and Indra who were waiting for her by her throne. Lexa swallowed and prepared to ascend the steps of the platform. She knew once she stepped up there, it wouldn't be long before the trials began. When she was set, she made her way up the steps and started to walk towards Titus to start the trials, but was cut off when Nia stepped in front of her. "I hope you are prepared to witness a successful trial Commander."
Lexa steeled herself to keep from granting Nia the satisfaction of earning a reaction from her. She knew Nia was just trying to anger her. "We shall see," she replied coolly.
"Wanheda will be bonded to my son Commander. You will see," Nia said.
Lexa felt a fire set her veins alight, but she just managed to hold back her anger. She needed to show Nia that she was still in charge, that Nia couldn't just goad her like this, but to do that she had to bring up Clarke. If she spoke too much, Nia would know that Clarke had told her more than she probably should have, and Lexa wasn't willing to endanger her safety. She needed to be careful with how she proceeded. "I don't know why she is following you," she sneered. "Maybe you are holding something against her, maybe you have scared her into submission, or maybe it is something more. Whatever it is I will figure it out and then I will kill you."
Nia smiled wickedly. "Don't tell me that the girl set to be bonded with my son has brought out your weakness again Commander. I thought you would have learned from the last time you let someone bring it out," Nia drawled.
Lexa felt the last of her restraint snap. How dare she talk about Costia. How dare she rub the two women she had ever cared about in her face. Lexa was about to pounce, but before she could she felt an arm grip around her bicep. "Commander," Luna started. She had been watching the interaction as soon as Nia stepped in the Commander's space and she watched as Lexa started to lose control. She acted before anything could happen and was now the only thing keeping Lexa from making a huge mistake. "The trials are ready to begin. Titus is waiting for you." Lexa glared at Nia who was still smiling at her, but she didn't act out against Nia like she almost had. She let Luna guide her away.
Nia grinned to herself, pleased with the reaction she was able to pull from the Commander and sat down in her throne. Her plan was working well. Clarke was clearly gaining Lexa's favor and soon Nia's plan would be in full effect. Sure, she could have Clarke just assassinate the Commander in her sleep, but then Nia wouldn't get what she wanted. What she wanted were two very important things. First, she wanted the Commander to suffer. The Commander had taken away her husband in a war between Azgeda and Trikru long ago. Her husband, King Ambrose, had been considering the coalition that Lexa was trying to build, but ultimately his hatred for Trikru and his wife's constant words against joining, had kept him from doing it. A war had broken out between the two clans and Lexa had ended up killing him, and Nia was hungry for her revenge. She also wanted to control the coalition herself. Nia believed that she was the most powerful in all of the coalition and it should be her who was in charge. She didn't have the support of many of the clans however, so if she had the Commander assassinated, the coalition would likely break and she would not be in control. Plus the risk of a failed assassination or Clarke's refusal of commiting the act could end in her demise, and she was not willing to risk it. Instead, she was using Clarke to show Azgeda strength. With Wanheda as the heir to the throne, and Nia as the ruler, many of the clans would fear Azgeda and she would be able to scare them into submission. She had already been in the process of gaining the support of some of clans, but Wanheda as the heir to the throne would definitely force more into following her. Once she had enough support, all she would have to do is wait for Clarke to get the Commander to let her guard down and force her to make a mistake. That's when Nia would be able to call for a vote of no confidence or a challenge. When Lexa was dead, Nia would step up and take control of the coalition in all of the chaos, taking her rightful place as Commander. The people would be forced to follow her and any who opposed her would be killed.
Luna led Lexa away from Nia and pulled her aside, "Do not let her get to you, she is not worth it. We will find a way to save Clarke and you will get your revenge."
Lexa nodded as she felt herself cool down slightly, her anger returning back into her nervousness. She thanked Luna for keeping her from snapping and she made her way over to Titus.
Titus was standing at the edge of the platform and when she approached him she nodded once, signaling that it was time. She took her place standing beside him and Titus spoke to the crowd to quiet them. "Bring out the warriors," Titus called first. The crowd watched in quiet anticipation as eighteen warriors, two form each of the challenging clans, entered the ring. Each of them were dressed in their clans colors and armor, and many of them wielded different weapons. They all took their place in the ring forming a giant circle around the outside. When they were set, Titus spoke again, "Bring out Wanheda and the Prince."