Clarke had never seen anything like it except for in books. Polis was grand- still recovering from the apocalyptic deterioration, but on the rise, for sure. Mankind was re-evolving, working on building large, safe, and structured communities. Crowds began to gather as they recognized the party of their commander, but as they gathered, they slowly took steps back as they watched Clarke and Bellamy enter the city limits beside Lexa and her riders. She could hear them all murmuring things about them.
Eventually they reached a massive skyscraper of a tower, which Lexa had claimed to be her residence and great hall. This is where Clarke and Bellamy would also have a room to stay in whenever they visited Polis. Once inside, Lexa had ordered servant to take both the Skai leaders away to have them prepared for a summit that would take place that evening. Since all the other ambassadors frequently stayed in Polis, all that were needed to attend were present in the city. The sooner they got introduced to the other clans, the better.
Clarke felt a bit uncomfortable at having a group of maids prepare her. She understood the importance of looking presentable for this meeting, since the week on the ground resulted in all the Arkers looking unkempt, but couldn't bring herself to let these women wash her body. Resting in the warm bath water of a bronze tub, Clarke had stopped the maid carrying the rough sea sponge to take it into her own hands. She appreciated Lexa's gesture of having people look after her, but she wasn't okay with other people cleaning her. She tried to explain her intention as politely as possible to the maid, and hastily went to cleaning herself, trying to be mindful not to use all the soap that had been given to her. Clarke wanted to remember the manners she was taught as a child: be grateful for your host's attempts at making you comfortable, but never take more than you are offered because you never really know how much of something your host has. She hoped Bellamy had the sense to use his manners, too.
When she had finished her bath, she let the maids wrap her in a towel, but courteously insisted that she would dry herself. She was handed a blue robe and was told that her clothes were being washed, and that they would be dried as soon as possible, but would take a couple of hours. It was Lexa's instructions to make sure that both Skaikru politicians would be presented to the court in Skaikru clothes so that the true understanding of Skaikru culture could be recognized. Dressing her and Bellamy like Grounders wouldn't make them distinguishable and a true representation of their people at all.
While she waited, Clarke noticed that the room she had been given had a balcony, and decided to discover the view. She was astonished to see the mosaic of shanties and partially recovered buildings spanning all around the Polis Tower, like a grand ripple effect of civilization. While her first thought was to see the capital city as run down, she rationally understood that for starting all over again and surviving the physical pain of a nuclear apocalypse, humanity was on the rise, returning slowly but surely, to its developed glory. As she watched the ant-sized people walk about the city she heard a knock at her bedroom door, and turned from the balcony to watch one of her handmaidens open it.
Lexa stood at the doorway, dressed in what Clarke could only assume was a more business-casual outfit, as her armor and ranking decorations were absent. She wore a plain and fitting long-sleeved grey shirt and complimenting dark pants, showing of the tone in her strong legs all the way down to her charmed combat boots.
"Heda!" the maid said in surprise, giving a quick bow before stepping aside to let the Commander in. Lexa smiled faintly at the servant, yet stayed at the threshold.
"May I come in, Clarke?" Lexa asked, holding her hands behind her back.
"Of course," Clarke said quickly, a little flustered that all she had on was the robe. She walked back into the room from her balcony and met the Commander halfway. The maid watched curiously. No doubt this would make for tempting gossip later in the evening.
"How are you? Is the room sufficient for your needs?"
"Absolutely," Clarke replied, truly thankful, "Are you sure it's not too much, though? I would be just fine with a smaller room."
"You are humble," Lexa said, nodding, "That is a good trait in some leaders. However, it is my custom to have all leaders given one of my best rooms. My hospitality isn't poor to those of lower stations, everyone is still taken care of, but because of your power and station, it is only customary for me to honor tradition."
"And Bellamy?"
"He is also of a high political status, therefore he was given an adequate suite as well."
Clarke watched Lexa as she spoke, noticing a lively spark in the Commander's eyes. Clarke did not have to know her soulmate long for her to know that this was simply just an excuse for Lexa to come see her. The Commander smiled slyly as she caught Clarke's investigative gaze, knowing that her soulmate had figured out her intention.
"I'm glad you are finding your stay at Polis pleasing, Clarke. After the summit tonight we will have a dinner with all the ambassadors. Your clothes should be ready in time, so do not worry."
Clarke nodded, as the Commander continued her lengthy goodbye.
"Please feel free to ask your maidens for anything, especially if you are hungry before the summit. If you'll excuse me, I have some daily errands to take care of," Lexa smiled and gave a curt bow before turning around after Clarke reciprocated her farewell, and left the room.
The Summit had arrived a lot quick than Clarke had anticipated, and could not believe that she had spent so many hours already exploring her room and the balcony view, learning so much about Polis and the Grounder culture that she could. Her clothes had been brought to her completely dry and clean, and when she looked at herself in the mirror to prepare her own hair, she felt for a second that she was back on the Ark getting ready for another day. She hadn't felt so clean in days and the sight of her outfit made her heart drop in homesickness. She looked at the metal vital monitor on her wrist with a frown, thinking about how her mother was holding up.
When she made her way down the numerous halls of the Polis tower she eventually ran into Bellamy, who was just as clean and kept as she was, and she was happy that he was putting effort into this too, despite not getting the position he wanted. He wild black hair had been washed and combed neatly, looking like a ceremony guard on the Ark. Tidiness suited the rebel. His guard jacket had been scrubbed clean, revealing the crisp black tactical build and Ark mission patch on his shoulder. Clarke was happy that he brought the jacket along because the Grounder would most definitely be able to recognize her people when the Ark came down bearing the same symbol.
The large doors of Lexa's throne room were pushed open by decorated guards, and everyone inside was peering eagerly to catch a glimpse of the newly appointed Skaikru leaders. Bellamy swallowed and stood up as straight as he could, keeping pace besides Clarke as they walked down the aisle to stand before Lexa.
The Commander was dressed in a ceremonial armor, composed of less protection and more design, accompanied by her trademark red sash. She nodded a the two.
"Ambassadors of the twelve clans, I present to you Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake, Skaikru's new appointed leaders of the Skaikru trading post camp. Clarke Griffin, please step forward and address the court."
Clarke nodded and took a step away from Bellamy so that the dense audience of the court and every ambassador could see her.
"Hello," she said, trying not to struggle at projecting her voice. "My name is Clarke Griffin. I have been appointed by my people to be their leader. I am the daughter of Abby Griffin, who sits at the council table of my people in the Ark. I look forward to working with your people and keeping things peaceful and prosperous between each other." As she spoke, she took in the faces of the other ambassadors, some politely taking in her words, others still standing cautiously, as if her words could harm them at any second. Finishing her greeting, she stepped back towards Bellamy, who gave her a curt nod of approval.
"Bellamy Blake," resumed Lexa's voice, "Please step forward and address the court."
Holding his arms behind his back, Bellamy stepped forward.
"Good afternoon," he began, surveying the audience. "My name is Bellamy Blake. I am Skaikru's newly appointed Ambassador. I served as a guard on the Ark. Because of my past military training, I have also been given the responsibility of being the leader of my people's militia here on Earth. The purpose of the militia is to keep my people in line and safe from anyone who does not respect the alliance we are forming today."
Clarke could feel the tension building in the room. Bellamy just had to peacock.
"I intend to do what I can to maintain peace and work as an honest messenger between Clarke, all of Skaikru, and all your people." With that, he gave another nod to the audience and stepped back to Clarke.
"The Skaikru are to be recognized as a peaceful trading post, governed by themselves on an internal level, but must answer to me, and only me. Being under my jurisdiction, no one has the authority to give orders to the Skaikru but me. In order to recruit Skaikru for hunting or scavenging trips, a request must be presented to me and then forwarded to Bellamy Blake, who will then run all correspondence with Clarke. Clarke and Bellamy are the only Skaikru allowed to leave the trading post boarders. As long as these leaders teach their people, we will not have to worry about them wandering into our villages and hunting grounds. They say that more of their people will arrive from the sky eventually, which means they will require more land. When this happens, it is up to Clarke and Bellamy to neutralize their camp and immigrants. This will allow them to petition for more land. As long as Clarke can promise that her new residents will obey our law of the land, I will permit them to grow under a larger restricted boarder. It is important that we do everything we can to maintain peace instead of resorting to extermination. It is Clarke and Bellamy's mission to accomplish this. Please send word to all your people about these new leaders to help them maintain peace between each other."
"Yes, Heda," The Ambassadors echoed.
"This diplomatic meeting is retired. Please join me for dinner in my dining hall to commemorate this new and potentially prosperous union."
They all followed each other through the throne room and down into a dining hall, where long tables had been gathered to accommodate all the guests.
Clarke and Bellamy could smell the food being cooked in a kitchen not far off, and their stomachs ached in anticipation. They had fed on the hunts of the campfire the other night of the building of the camp, but a full feast was torturous to wait for. As the guests of honor, Clarke was seated at Lexa's right hand, and Bellamy sat next to Clarke with his guard jacket draped over his chair, with Titus sitting at Lexa's left hand. The rest of the ambassadors took the remaining seats at the long table.
Servers came out of the kitchen as soon as they sensed that the dining hall had been thoroughly filled and began placing the first course in front of all that were seated.
A steaming plate of venison was placed down in front of Clarke, with a side of fried russet potatoes and greens. It took everything within the two Arkers to not tear the plate to pieces until they observed that everyone had been served. Picking up knife and fork, they cut into their meat along with everyone else on their one plate, and Clarke could have sworn she heard a grumbled "fuck" from Bellamy as he saw the juices seep out of his venison as his blade sliced through it almost like butter. When Clarke stuck a sliver of the meat on her fork and placed it on her tongue she melted at the contact of salt and spices. She and Bellamy began to devour their food like rabid animals, even relishing the taste of crisp, fresh vegetables.
"What do you eat on this Ark?" asked an Ambassador sitting across from Bellamy, next to Titus.
Bellamy raised his head from looking at his plate and chewed quickly to answer the question in a timely manner. The ambassador laughed.
"I'm Manu, ambassador of the Ice Nation."
"Bellamy Blake," Bellamy said, roughly swallowing his bite of food.
"I know," Manu laughed again.
"We, uh, because there's only so much room to farm and raise domesticated animals, most of us eat protein meals, and packets such as MREs, which the military used to eat back when everyone lived on earth. Real food like this… most people only got this luxury on holidays, and if you made it to the market in time before they sold out."
"Growing up on food that's not considered real, huh?" Maun asked, sipping his wine. "Would that make your people weak?"
"On the contrary," Bellamy said, picking up the tone of this question instantly. "MREs were used to keep soldiers strong in the field, and had all the daily nutritional necessities met. We were still fed what we needed for the human body to properly function. Most were not underfed, just fed with synthetic foods. It's our intellect that allows us to survive. With enough time and understanding of an area, we can become pretty sufficient."
Manu grimaced, and Lexa cleared her throat.
"This is not the place to measure yourselves, gentlemen," Lexa stated, swirling her wine in her cup.
"I agree," Clarke said, smiling gently at her soulmate. Lexa returned the smile courteously.
"Look at that," said another ambassador, pointing at Bellamy's arm. "It looks like someone is trying to get your attention."
Bellamy looked down at his arm and watched a drawing of Poseidon's trident seep into his skin. Bellamy blushed, to Clarke's surprise, and put his guard jacket back on.
"The quest for your soulmate," Manu said, almost as if he was reminecing. "Getting any closer to figuring out who they are?"
"I'm not sure yet," Bellamy answered, clearing his throat. "I'm not ready to meet them yet if meeting is possible between us."
"Why the trident?"
"They know I like mythology," Bellamy answered, "I get a couple symbols every now and then. A centaur, Pegasus… I think I got medusa once."
"And what about you, Clarke kom Skaikru? How goes your fated search?" Manu asked with a smile.
Clarke could hear Lexa inhale deeply as the question was asked, no doubt taken by surprise and anxious. To ease Lexa, Clarke slyly reached her foot over to Lexa's calf muscle under the table, and began to rub softly and slowly.
Smiling, the leader of Skaikru responded "I think I'm pretty close. Just have a few things to handle first."