Polis stirs earlier than usual the next morning. It is not yet dawn and the streets are just beginning to come alive with anticipation. The people know that today is a momentous occasion, and they are preparing for it in their own ways. Outside the city, the clans ready themselves for the ceremony which will take place in a short time.
Trikru…Azgeda…Sand Nation…
One by one, the camps begin to stir as the clans wake. Leaders convene and chatter ensues; the anticipation surrounding Polis is absolutely palpable. It winds through the city streets, claws up the high buildings, and makes its way into the very heart of the palace itself.
It is inside, near the top of the tower, that Lexa finds herself sneaking away from Clarke's arms and the shelter of the bed. The echoes of previous commanders inside her mind have woken her and she finds that their clashing views on today's impending events are not a comfort. In the very depths of her heart, she knows she's doing the right thing, that today will bring peace to her people—all of them. There is still that lingering vestige of doubt in her mind that refuses to be put to rest. It whispers that love is weakness and she must demand blood.
Some of the previous commanders echo this sentiment until she can't stand it anymore and she finds herself brooding at the window. She looks out over her city with her jaw set in anticipation; watches her people as they ready themselves for the day ahead. The edges of the horizon are pink and orange with the approaching dawn and she knows there isn't much time left.
"Worried?" Clarke's voice is husky with sleep from somewhere close behind her and she wonders how she missed the other woman's movements from the bed. Before she can turn to face Clarke, she feels the warmth of a welcome pair of arms as they circle around her.
"I'm not worried." She shakes her head. A smile creeps across her lips as kisses land on the soft skin of her neck. She leans into the touch for a moment before Clarke stops her movements at the edge of her jaw just below her ear. "Then what?"
"Conflicted."
She glances over at Clarke and back out the window, and this time, Clarke follows her gaze; observes the movement several stories below them. She mulls over everything in her head as they stand watch; understanding dawning as she speaks again.
"You're not sure you've made the right choice." Her arms tighten their hold on the commander as she waits patiently for a response. Minutes tick by as Lexa stands, thinking. The sand in the hourglass is slipping and she's running out of time before she will have to stand before her people and follow through with the decision made before the summit a week ago.
"Our people need peace." She says, finally. "I'm just not certain that the path I've chosen is the right way."
"It is."
Clarke's affirmation prompts Lexa to turn in her arms. She fixes the blonde with an imploring gaze, begging for understanding as she places her own hands on Clarke's hips. Never before has she heard Clarke sound so resolute about a decision that some of her own people in detriment and that fact leaves her curious.
"You're right. Our people need peace." Clarke echoes Lexa's words as she takes her face between her hands. "But they've known war too long. They won't accept peace if you refuse them blood all together. Your compromise is the only way."
"Actually, the compromise is your mother's."
Clarke pulls back a bit to study Lexa's face and finds that a wry grin has settled onto her lips.
"Since when do guests make political decisions in Polis?"
At this, the smirk grows into a full smile as Lexa remembers that Clarke herself had started out as a prisoner before becoming an ambassador to her people.
"I couldn't risk another situation like the last attempted coup in your absence." She explains "Abby served as ambassador in your stead."
"And how did you know you could trust my mom not to vote against you if there had been a coup?"
Lexa surveys the playful arch of Clarke's eyebrow and the curves of her curious expression. True enough, the elder of the Griffin women had not been a particularly ardent advocate of Heda's in recent months, but recent bonding aside, she had to know what Lexa's forced replacement would certainly mean for her people.
"The same reason you voted against the ambassadors during Nia's attempted coup." Her eyes flit away from the blue of Clarke's and out the window where dawn is breaking.
"Now come, we have to dress for the ceremony."
The thirteen clans are gathered in a large field just outside of the city. Their numbers are massive and the quiet chatter of the group is almost thunderous even though they whisper among themselves as they await Heda's arrival.
The group forms a wide circle with the ambassadors and clan leaders situated at the front of each nation. In the middle of this formation, there are five posts side by side with the tallest one in the center. It is on this one that Pike is chained, looking beaten and weary. His guards have seen to it that he has received the same treatment that he dealt Kane, much to Lexa's disapproval. Despite everything, he still wears a confident sneer and his eyes blaze with a wild defiance. On either side of him Bellamy, Jasper, and two other delinquents sit chained. Each bears, to some degree, an expression of apprehension and fear.
Suddenly, all idle talk within the factions ceases as eyes snap to Titus, who stands at the edge of the path into this center area. His posture demands attention as do his stern eyes as he raises is hand in a silent command. He speaks his next words in Gonasleng out of consideration for Skaikru's presence.
"Be silent for your Commander."
Without further preamble, Lexa marches forward down the path. Her eyes immediately lock with Pike's and she makes a display of her might in the few steps that she travels. In the straightness of her spine, she carries confidence. In the arch of her shoulders, she bears the might of the thirteen nations gathered together in the field. In her walk, she shows the hardened strength of a lifetime of training. The message is clear: The only place for those who wish to incite war within the coalition is under her boot.
She comes to a stop just a few meters in front of Pike and her eyes finally leave his to gaze around the crowd. She finds each of the clan leaders and ambassadors looking back at her with rapt attention: Indra, Clarke, Roan, and Kane among them.
"As you all know, you have been joined here today for the first time since the time of the earliest Heda." Her eyes scan each face in the crowd and her voice projects loudly, almost echoing against the mountainous backdrop of the field.
"We come here to usher in a new age. One where Jus Drein Jus Daun is not the only way we know."
At this, there are surprised murmers within the crowd, and Titus shifts uncomfortably from behind Lexa. He is still uncertain about how this will be received, but his Heda has made her position quite clear. Lexa's eyes find Clarke's in the crowd and she holds them as she speaks.
"Our people have known war for too long; violence and bloodshed among brothers, neighbors, and friends. Today we bring peace, but first…" Her voice trails and her eyes fall to the members of Skaikru.
"You are all aware of the troubles within Skaikru ranks. Many of you demanded blood when Skaikru's dysfunction spilled into your lands. I am prepared to offer that blood as a symbol of a new policy."
Her hand sweeps out toward the men who sit chained at her feet. "These five will bleed for what they have done, but only one will give us his life."
The five Skaikru men in front of her look equally as surprised as several of the grounders around them. Only the ambassadors and clan leaders appear to know what's happening as murmurs and gasps spread among the crowd. She allows a moment for silence to fall back into place before she addresses the men in front of her.
"You five have been taken into custody for your crimes against the coalition and you will all endure the ceremony of a thousand cuts, but only you will meet my sword, Pike kom Skaikru."
She steps closer until she stands right in front of Pike, each of them boring their gazes into each other for several moments until the Heda asks, "Do you have any final thoughts?"
Pike chuckles in response. His laughter is not the sound of a sane man, but of someone who has slipped into madness. "Look at you…high and mighty commander." His chuckling resumes until he abruptly stops to spit blood at her boot and she steps back swiftly. "Your followers are all fools."
She waits patiently for several moments to see if he'll offer anything else, then with quick looks of acknowledgement to the other four, she speaks. "Let it begin."
The entire ceremony lasts long into the day. Bellamy and the other three are the first to suffer their punishment with the clan ambassadors and leaders inflicting the wounds. Healers are brought in later to cauterize some of the wounds so that the men won't bleed out and then to treat them after they've been released from the posts.
Pike is the last to suffer, and his punishment is far more tedious. All of skaikru is made to inflict his cuts in order to cement their loyalty to the grounder coalition. It's almost dusk by the time Lexa stands in front of him with her sword pulled and delivers the final blow. She hopes that this death will mark the last time for a very long while that her ceremonial sword will have to be pulled, and she shares that hope with her people a moment later as they stand watching her like they had that morning.
"This morning I spoke to you of peace for our people. With this man's death, we close the chapter on our bloody past and begin a new one." Her eyes drift among the children in the crowd, to the nightbloods who stand watch near her flank. "A chapter where our children can grow without having to know bloodshed; where instead, we teach them that love is not weakness."
She turns to meet Titus' eyes with a pointed gaze and he simply bows his head in response. "With that said, let it be known that Jus Drein Jus Daun still has a time and place."
The statement is met with surprise, particularly from members of Trikru and Skaikru.
"We will only demand blood for the most heinous crimes and it will be given—with a vote of the ambassadors and my consent. No longer will our people indulge in senseless bloodshed to solve arbitrary problems. " Her voice grows steadily more firm as she speaks and again her eyes find Clarke's. "Love is not weakness."
Utter silence falls among the crowd as she finishes speaking and the entirety of the clans watches their Heda for several tense moments. It lasts just long enough for her to wonder if she's made the wrong choice but then something happens. Slowly but surely, mixed calls of "Heda" and "love is not weakness" in mixed Trigedasleng and Gonasleng begin to spread through the massive crowd. The cries grow in volume and intensity until the noise is a thunderous din that echoes off the mountains with ease and leaves Lexa in awe of what she's done, though she's still careful to take note of the few people in the crowd who look displeased with her decision.
Behind her, Titus is beside himself with surprise, relief, and joy that he struggles to contain. He can't believe what he's seeing; what Lexa has done. This is by far her most impressive accomplishment in her six year reign and he can only look on with wide eyes as the clans unite in support of peace. Tears spring to his eyes and he begins to mutter to himself as laughter threatens to break from his lips.
"H-hodnes nou laik kwelnes."
It is the first time that he can remember feeling good about being wrong.
Lexa knows there is still much to do, but for now, she embraces the happiness of the moment. She allows the clans to continue their raucousness as she breaks away from her spot and heads in search of Clarke.
"Lexa…that was amazing." Clarke says, utterly awestruck at what's happened over the course of the day. The clans are united without anyone feuding. Though it would be unrealistic to expect the other shoe not to drop, they both know that they have time to wait for that…at least where the coalition and these new policies are concerned. Now, even as Lexa happily talks with Clarke and other members of the Trikru and Skaikru, another matter is at the edge of her mind.
"Clarke," she says after several minutes of conversation. "Please, show me to the man your people call Murphy."
Thanks for reading guys. Sorry the update took longer than usual. Still adjusting to my move! Anyway, I hope yall enjoyed!