As the gates to Arkadia came into view Clarke slowed her horse and allowed her guards to catch up to her. Lexa had insisted that she take Malik and Fenton with her to speak to Pike. For the most part the two men had not been a hindrance. Leaving Lexa had been extremely difficult for Clarke. Whilst they had never spoken about their relationship in much detail, Clarke was aware of how Lexa felt about her and the only thing that caused her pain was wondering if Lexa knew that she felt the same. She hoped so, but she also knew that if they had gone to that place of sharing feelings and defining their relationship she would not have been able to do what needs to be done.
Clarke admired Lexa's ability to compartmentalize and as she took a deep breath the great Wanheda vowed to follow Lexa's example and perform her duty with her head and not her heart. Malik had dismounted from his horse and was waiting with his hand out to help Clarke down off her steed.
"What now Wanheda?" Fenton asked curiously.
"Now I go inside and you go back to the blockade" Clarke replied nonchalantly. She knew that neither of the loyal warriors would be happy with her plan.
"No. Heda's orders were clear" Fenton shook his head stubbornly.
"We are not to let you out of our site. We cannot return without you Wanheda" Malik agreed and Clarke knew that he spoke the truth. Lexa would take their lives for disobeying her direct orders.
"Fine. But I have to go in there alone. You can stay out here. There is a secret passageway over there, I will deliver messages to you to return to Lexa, I mean the Commander" Clarke corrected herself quickly but she knew that both men had noticed her use of Lexa's given name.
Neither of them seemed too fazed by it but she kicked herself for being so casual whilst speaking of the Commander of the twelve clans. Lexa's reign was on shaky ground as it was and the last thing Clarke needed was for any of the grounders to think that she was disrespecting their Commander. It wasn't that no one used Lexa's given name, in fact a lot of people did but never in battle or whilst performing official duties.
Clarke knew that the only way that her people were going to survive was if they showed loyalty to Lexa. As long as they did that she believed they would be safe, no other clan would dare to attack them if they swore fealty to the Commander.
"How will you get in?" Fenton questioned but he hadn't needed to because Clarke began screaming to the men in the guard tower.
"I'm here to speak with Chancellor Pike. Open the gates" Clarke demanded. "Go! I will get a message to you tonight. Hurry" Clarke turned to Malik and Fenton and shooed them away. They hesitated but decided it best to follow Wanheda's orders and rode off as the gates swung open. When Fenton looked back he noticed three figures all in black pointing weapons at Clarke who was staring them down, completely unafraid.
"What are you doing here Clarke?" Bellamy spoke first.
"I'm here to clean up your mess. Again" Clarke walked straight passed him and through the gates of Arkadia.
There were people wandering around everywhere but they all stopped and stared as Clarke entered the camp. Everything looked different to Clarke. There were more crops that had been planted, some buildings and dwellings had been erected. Things were starting to come together nicely and Clarke felt pride at the progress her people had made in her absence. But she also knew that it would all be for naught if the current leadership could not be overthrown. The grounders would never accept Skaikru back into the coalition with Pike as their leader and after the trouble he had caused for Lexa, Clarke doubted the Commander would be satisfied until she had Pike's head. It would be a battle that she wasn't sure she would win just to try to save Bellamy from the same fate.
"I'm here to speak with all of you. The grounders have Arkadia surrounded. There are thousands of trained warriors waiting on their Commanders orders" Clarke could see the fear in their eyes at her words and she realized that most of them had no idea about the blockade. "But the Commander doesn't want to wipe us out. She is reasonable, she is on a mission to create peace in her lands and we have a chance to be a part of that peace as the thirteenth clan in her coalition" Clarke watched as more people began to gather around her, all intent on listening to what she had to say.
"What does she want? She must want something in return" an elderly man spoke up as he pushed through the crowd to approach Clarke.
"You're right the Commander demands the current leadership be overthrown and Chancellor Pike be held accountable for the slaughter of three hundred warriors that were sent to protect Arkadia" she knew this wasn't something that her people wanted to hear but she didn't want to lie to them. Lexa was adamant that the people of Arkadia chose freely to overthrow Pike and his loyalists. The Commander would only accept Skaikru back into the coalition as the thirteenth clan if she was sure that this kind of rebellion would never happen again.
"My life is all she's asking for?" Pike's voice was heard above the now ranting crowd.
"Yes" Clarke straighten her shoulders and tried her best to stand with the kind of confidence Lexa would have in this situation.
"No one else would have to die?" Pike questioned her, speaking more aggressively as he stood face to face with her.
"No. Not unless they foolishly chose to follow you further down this path of destruction you have already lead our people too far down" although she was physically much smaller than Pike, she would not allow him to intimidate her. After all she was Wanheda, The Commander of Death and he should fear her.
"Our people? Since when are you one of us? Haven't you been living with the enemy for months? Was it not you bowing before that grounder savage you say is so reasonable, dressed up like one of them while OUR PEOPLE were slaughtered in Mount Weather by the very savages you say we should trust? You expect us to trust the coward that left our people to die after she went back on her word. We are done allowing children to make decisions in Arkadia. The grounders may choose to follow a child, but we will not" the anger was evident in Pike's face and for the first time Clarke was afraid of how this would end. She let her own anger over the unrelenting Chancellor's words about Lexa get her riled up. But she was able to calm herself down when she remembered that she had abandoned her people months ago because she had been too cowardly to face them after what she had done in Mount Weather. How could she possibly expect them to trust her now?
"Commander Lexa has been extremely generous with her offer of peace. It would be unwise to mistake her compassion for weakness. But you are right about one thing, I have been living with them. I have gotten to know them and their customs. I have spent time with their Commander and I have come to realise they aren't so much different from us. They want to protect their families and their friends, just like us. They want peace, the question is, do we?" Clarke turned to look into the eyes of the people that had gathered. She recognized a lot of them from her days helping her mother in the Ark infirmary and she could tell that many of them wanted to hear more of what she had to say. She saw questions burning in their eyes but this would not be the day for Clarke to answer those questions.
She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head before the darkness overcame her.
As Lexa lay in her bed staring at the roof of the tent that had been erected by her guards, her mind wandered to Clarke. They had travelled to the blockade together on horseback, neither speaking about anything important. The Commander struggled to get on and off her horse but other than that she felt good. The gunshot wound was healing exceptionally well and Clarke had explained to Lexa that she believed the reason for her fast healing was The Flame in the back of her neck. The young leader shook her head as if to stop herself from allocating too much of her brain power to the subject of The Flame. There were many more important things happening right now that needed her attention, mainly the situation in Arkadia.
Lexa had watched Clarke ride off toward Arkadia earlier that day. The fierce Commander had ached to kiss the compassionate Sky Princess, to chase after her, to beg her to stay but instead she gave Clarke a subtle nod before steering her horse away. Lexa swallowed the urge to cry and she did not look back toward Arkadia, she rode with her head held high until she reached the command post at the blockade. She and Clarke had duties to fulfill and Lexa knew that her duty to her people would always come first, and she believed it to be the same for Clarke.
"Heda?" Garrett had his hand on Lexa's shoulder, and she knew that this wasn't his first attempt at trying to get her attention. "I'm sorry Heda, the generals are ready for you" Garrett offered Lexa his hand to help her off her bed. Garrett was Lexa's favourite guard, he had been her personal guard for almost six years. Titus had originally assigned a brutish man named Voltin to be Lexa's head guard. The feisty brunette had other plans however. She held a contest for all of Polis' guards. The contest tested the strength, knowledge, skill and endurance of the warriors but Lexa had secretly tested their ability to show compassion and loyalty. Garrett was an extremely skilled warrior in all physical aspects, he was insurmountably superior than his peers in his knowledge of all twelve clans. Lexa had been impressed by his battle strategies but what had won him the coveted position of Head Guard to The Commander of the Blood had been his compassion.
Lexa had stumbled across Garrett one evening during the contest and had witnessed him throwing scraps to the stray animals that lurked in the alleys of the Polis marketplace. She had also watched from afar as a young village girl had handed him a bracelet she had made. It was made of pink and black twine and had a tiny dove ornament attached to it. Lexa smiled as she watched him allow the little girl to place the twine bracelet on his thick wrist. She named him the winner three days later when she noticed he still wore the pink bracelet. The jewelry didn't exactly go with his black armour and silver buckles or the axe that hung from his hip but Garett wore it with pride, and it was because of this that he had been chosen.
"Thank you Garett. I will be out in a minute" Lexa smiled weakly at him, he gave her a gracious nod before quickly exiting her tent.
A millisecond later her squire held up her shoulder armour and the Commanders sash. Lexa bent slightly so that the young boy could more easily place the armour upon her left shoulder. She raised up and clipped the buckle herself as the boy handed her gloves and placed her boots in front of her. Lexa slid her hands into the leather gloves and stepped into her boots before gliding out of her tent.
"Heda, I bid you to be reasonable" a General from the Desert Clan spoke above the other mumbling Generals.
"You do not wish to see me be unreasonable General Talvi" Lexa sneered at him. She was tiring of this meeting; they had spent more than an hour debating her decision to allow Skaikru to provide justice for the three hundred slain warriors. "Wanheda has only been gone for a few hours. We must be patient. We will get justice for our dead and Skaikru will be punished" the last part of Lexa's sentence caught the attention of everyone within earshot.
"What will be their punishment Heda?" a voice that Lexa did not recognize broke the newfound silence.
"That will be discussed once this situation has been rectified and Skaikru has been accepted back into the coalition" the Generals began to stir but none of them spoke out against their Commander. "On my ascension day I swore to always do what is best for our people and that has not changed. I am striving for a better future for our people. A future where our children are no longer surrounded by the fear of death. But make no mistake I will do what must be done to preserve our people and this coalition, anyone who stands in my way will be eliminated. Skaikru or grounder, my coalition will stand" Lexa stood from her seat and was pleasantly surprised when a number of Generals immediately hit their knees and bowed their heads. The rest of the room swiftly followed.
"ai badan yu op en nou moun Heda!" the room cheered in unison.
Lexa's heart swelled with pride as she exited the makeshift war room. Hearing the Generals in her coalition echo the words that had been spoken by Clarke back in Polis made the Commanders heart soar. Perhaps she would not be met with as must resistance to her new orders as she had originally thought. As long as Clarke could provide justice for the slain Lexa now had faith that the coalition would remain intact. Peace now seemed almost within the young leader's grasp.