The next morning, Lexa arrived to find Clarke sitting outside, leaning against Juno as she sharpened the short, thin blade she was occasionally seen walking around with. As she approached, Lexa noticed there were chips along a good portion of the blade, while the tip had a relatively large one making it look not dissimilar to a hook.

"I don't think sharpening it will do anything to salvage what's left of that blade," she commented as Clarke continued to run the whetstone across its edges.

"Their intentional."

"Why would you intentionally use a damaged sword?"

"Because it's not damaged," Baldur replied as he stepped out, slinging his own blade across his back as he bowed his head to her.

"The teeth make it so I don't have to use as much strength to cut," Clarke explained. "The hook like shape is for stabbing. The sky people would be hard-pressed to heal a wound made from this type of blade, other healers would find it impossible."

"For someone who abhors violence, that's a rather grisly tool to carry," Lexa observed as Clarke slid the blade back into its sheath.

"That's because I'd only use it if I needed to take a life," Clarke replied. "And I'm fairly good at navigating around those kinds of situations."

Lexa nodded grimly and walked beside her as they made their way towards the Tower, taking note of how Baldur, O, and L followed them, with Juno not far behind.

"I suppose you expect me to allow them entrance to the meeting as well?"

"Under no circumstances to I go anywhere without Juno," Clarke replied harshly. "O and L have sworn themselves to me, and thus accompany me even when I don't want them to, and Baldur would not let me leave home unless he could come as well."

Baldur smiled and nodded his head pleasantly towards Lexa while Clarke rolled her eyes.

"So long as they don't make their presences known, I will allow it," Lexa replied.

"Just so you know, Lexa, the minute I think I'm there to simply nod my head and agree with whatever you say, I'm leaving," Clarke warned.

"It never crossed my mind," Lexa replied, smiling lightly.

"Yes it did," Clarke said before walking on, causing her smile to fade.

They walked in silence, apart from the people who happily greeted both Clarke and Lexa, occasionally stepping forward to offer Juno a piece of meat, or some berries. Once inside the Tower, Lexa became hyper aware of the eyes following them, making sure to keep her own forward until they had stepped foot inside the throne room and realized that one of them was missing.

"Where is Baldur?" She asked, having not even noticed as the man disappeared.

Clarke shrugged. "Somewhere within earshot," she replied. "I'm usually pretty good at finding the others, but only Juno can really sniff him out if he doesn't want to be seen." Sitting on the ground against Juno in the corner of the room, partially hidden by the shadows. Clarke watched as Lexa took a seat on her throne before the ambassadors from the twelve clans trickled in, followed by a slender man with a bald head covered in tattoos.

Predictably, her reception was less than cordial as the other clan members. The only ones to regard her with anything other than contempt or disgust were a tall, pale woman with long brown hair who smiled almost dreamily and a man whose age and clear exposure to the sun over many years made his skin sag and look like leather while his eyes sparkled brightly with interest. Making sure to keep an eye on those two, she continued looking around the room, quickly pointing out the ambassador from the Ice Nation by his thick furs, despite it being early summer.

"Heda! What is the meaning of this?"

"This is a closed meeting!"

"She is not even of the clans!"

"She looks no better than a simple commoner!"

"What does she know of leading?"

"She likely doesn't even bare any kill marks!"

Rolling her eyes, Clarke remained seated and nodded to Lexa. Closing her eyes and only half-listening as Lexa enforced their silence and made sure the meeting got underway, stating that Clarke was an honoured guest. Afterwards, Clarke listened as the ambassadors clambered to be heard over one another, taking the time to listen to their complaints, even as Lexa shut them down in order to start building a mental picture of what was going on around the Coalition.

She listened as the delegate from the Rock Line complained of bandits, though there was an undercurrent of desperation and accusation in his tone as he spoke that told her there was more to that story than he let on. Meanwhile, the Boat People and the Lake clans were uniting against the Glowing Forest and Broadleaf clans, who were apparently infringing on their fishing zones, while the Shadow Valley and Plain Rider clans were feeling threatened by something, though they were reluctant to say more in an open setting. Other than that, there was just the typical disputes over trading routes and hunting zones, though with the addition of chest pounding that Clarke had come to find typical since arriving on the ground.

She remained mostly ignored throughout the meeting, and by the time they ambassadors were leaving, she was surprised at the lack of mention of the Sky People. Eventually, the only one to remain behind was the bald man whom Clarke had noticed had a bad habit of speaking in Lexa's place and putting words in her mouth as she tried to solve the various issues before her diplomatically.

"Heda! It was unwise to bring this outsider to the meeting without having consulted me," the man said the moment door closed behind the last of the ambassadors.

"You forget your place, Titus," Lexa replied coolly. "I am Heda, I don't need to answer to you or anybody else for that matter. You, however, have seemed to deluded yourself into thinking you can order my general to organize a hunting party without my knowledge or consent."

"Forgive me, Heda," the man said, bowing low, though Clarke took note of the lack of sincerity in his features. "You were indisposed when word of the traitor's appearance within the city reached my ears, I simply thought it prudent to send out a party immediately. However, that does not explain why she is here."

"I'm here because I was invited," Clarke replied calmly. Rising to her feet, Clarke fought down a smirk as she walked towards the door and his eyes widened as Juno, O, and L walked out of the shadows behind her. "Is there somewhere you would like to meet within the Tower, Commander? Or am I free to go?"

"There is," Lexa replied, rising to her feet as she continued to glare at Titus. "Make no mistake, Flame Keeper, we will be discussing the liberties you have been taking in the future. For now, though, leave us."

Titus scowled and bowed before leaving, giving Clarke and Juno a wide berth as he stormed out of the room. Once the door had closed behind him with a slam, Lexa sighed and some of the tension released from her shoulders.

"Come," she said tiredly, pointing towards a door to the side of her throne. "There is a place I wish to show you where we can speak in peace."

Clarke nodded and quietly followed Lexa through the door, into a series of dark tunnels.

"So, what do you make of the other clans?" She asked.

"I think that a few of them see your Coalition as nothing more than a farce," Clarke replied easily. "They only continue to respect your authority so long as they benefit from it."

"It makes sense," Baldur said as he seemingly appeared next to her, making Lexa stiffen just slightly. "Before the Coalition, Heda was a wartime leader only. An impartial observer to oversee alliances and disputes between the warring clans. They see no reason to defer to her during peacetime."

Walking through a set of heavy doors, Clarke nodded to Baldur, O, and L to wait outside as she followed Lexa into a massive room completely filled with books.

"What is this place?" She asked in awe as she surveyed the stacks of texts.

"This is the Hall of Memories," Lexa replied. "Generations of Commanders and Flame Keepers have collected whatever knowledge we could from the Old World, with the goal of learning from those who came before. Unfortunately, with only the two of us, there has been little progress in sorting out those that could be useful from those that aren't."

"So I see," Clarke replied. "You know, any of the Sky People would be able to sort through and organize these in no time at all."

"I am aware," Lexa replied. "However there is only one that I trust enough to allow in here."

"Me?" Clarke asked, unable to fully stop the smile from forming as Lexa nodded.

"Titus rarely ventures in here," she explained. "His obsession with the sacred relics ends with those of the First Commander. He thinks it foolish to try and gleam knowledge from those who came before."

"Your Flame Keeper is an idiot," Clarke replied flatly. "Which ones have you gone through?"

"Just one," Lexa replied pointing to small collection of books on one side of the room. "I believe it to be a children's tale, and considering I was in the middle of forming the Coalition, found myself inclined to believe him as I found no wisdom within its pages."

"You clearly weren't trying hard enough," Clarke said as she walked over to the shelf containing what she assumed to be 'useless' books. "Children's books often had some of the most important lessons to teach." Grabbing the one Lexa indicated, and reading the title, she smiled as she flipped through the worn pages. "This one you read, for example, talks about the tensions between two nations, constantly on the brink of war as they develop more and more powerful weapons in case the other were to attack. The irony is that the fear and paranoia keep them from understanding that they aren't very different at all as they simply continue to prepare for the other to make the first move."

"I had no idea," Lexa muttered, awestruck as Clarke took the book and moved it over to the side containing the more useful texts.

"There is no such thing as a useless book," she said. "You just have to learn how to apply the knowledge therein."

"Does that mean you will help me?" Lexa asked hopefully.

"I can help go through and organize them," Clarke said, crouching and reading through the various titles. "But I still have my other responsibilities to deal with, so I'll expect you to read through any books I give you as well, regardless of what anyone else says."

"I think I can do that," Lexa replied.

"In that case, why don't you start with this one," Clarke said handing a thick leather-bound book to her. Lexa took it with a smile and looked down to read the title.

"The Iliad."

Over two hours later, Clarke had finished relaying and discussing her observations from the meeting with Lexa and was back outside, walking down the street towards her home with Juno, Baldur, O, and L.

"You know you don't have to help her, right?" O asked cautiously.

"I know," Clarke replied. They continued to walk in silence until they reached the warehouse and were surprised to see a familiar face standing outside the door.

"Hello, Wanheda," Luna said with a smile as she approached.

"Luna, to what do I owe the honour?"

"I was looking for a healer, and this nice young boy directed me here, saying that you were the best healer in the city."

"And for what reason do you need a healer?" Clarke asked as she removed her sword and stepped inside, waving Luna in to do the same.

"Well," Luna said pleasantly, as she took a seat across from Clarke on a pair of fur cushions before revealing a large red spot underneath her cloak with a dagger sticking out of her side. "It would appear someone tried to assassinate me after the meeting this morning."