AN: This will be the beginning of the plot-heavy portion of the story, so if you came for the Smut, you may be disappointed for a while.
At the end of the week, Lexa and Clarke finally left her rooms and the Commander was ready to officially introduce her mate to her advisors and her guard. Clarke entered the room slowly and bowed her head to Lexa. Her hair was braided intricately at the sides of her head and down her back. She had blue face paint around her eyes, dragged up toward her hairline to show her Skaikru origins and over top of that black face paint in three lines over her eyes and down her cheeks to show her allegiance to Lexa and the Coalition. Anya sniffed the air, her eyes narrowing. Her head whipped toward Lexa.
"You stupid girl." She roared. "You got that traitorous healer to brew you that tea."
"Anya, control your tongue." Lexa stated coolly. Her eyes flicked to her.
"No, I am the only one who will speak this truth to you. First you don't want to claim an Omega and then when you finally do, you insult her by allowing her womb to rot." Lexa gripped the arms of her throne so hard her fingers blanched but her face remained impassive. Clarke recoiled as if slapped.
"You." Anya faced the Omega. "You are her weakness now. The least you could do is pretend to be her strength."
"That is enough." Lexa commanded.
"Heda, she must be with child by her next heat. If not, I will personally deliver the corpse of your prized healer to you." The anger rolled off her and the pheromones that emanated from her skin made Lexa's heart race. Too close to her Omega, too dangerous to Clarke. She took a deep breath. Clarke would never be in danger from Anya. Her temper was quick-fired but mostly talk unless it was gravely necessary to act.
"I do not take kindly to threats, Anya. You are overstepping your rank."
"She is the threat!" Anya gestured to Clarke. "Unseeded, she is a mark of failure!"
"I will bear a child," Clarke declared, "But first, there are things that need to be done. Treaties must be forged, lines must be drawn and discussions must be had. To have me pregnant is to invite a liability to these meetings." Clarke stepped forward, pressing against the Alpha pheromones that surrounded her. Outside of her heat, she was determined and powerful and a leader, despite her biology. The Ark did not raise Alphas and Omega's differently; everyone was more or less the same with the suppressants.
"If you don't think children linking our clans is a strength, you don't know our people very well."
"And if you don't think my people will see this union as a trap, you don't know mine."
"Trap? What did they expect to come of their offer of peace in exchange for you?" Lexa asked.
"They sent me, primarily hoping that you would accept. But if not, I was to be a poison. You would weaken your own ranks by killing them to protect me. Even if I died in the process."
"To use an Omega as bate…your people have no respect." Anya tutted. She turned to Lexa. "You form your treaties and explain the rules to her people. The expectations of the Coalition and then, after your Sequestration in six months, when she is round with life, she will be presented to the Coalition." Anya told Lexa. "Until then, this is nothing more than a dalliance and it will be kept quiet." Lexa stared at Anya from her throne.
"Clarke and I have made the Bond. There will be no keeping this quiet. Where she goes, I will too. Where I am, she will follow. When I cannot go, you will in my stead."
Anya threw her hands into the air. "The Bond?" She grumbled rounding to face Titus who was observing the argument silently, as usual. "This is your doing." She accused. "If the Omega dies, there goes the chance for Heda to have an heir. Especially as they have delayed it this time."
"I have a name! I have a purpose beside bearing and raising children." Clarke snapped.
"Not anymore." Anya responded evenly.
"Clarke is Skaikru's ambassador." Lexa finally stood from her throne. "She will never be locked up in Polis. She has her freedom."
Anya scoffed. "Freedom? You are willingly letting her run into danger. Omegas are always to be protected."
"She has my protection…always." Lexa spoke softly, facing Clarke. A promise.
"You are being impossible. I fear you're making choices that will have disastrous consequences."
Titus cleared his throat from his position at the side of the room.
"Forging the Bond was a necessary action." He stepped closer. "The Omegas of the sky are different from those on the ground. We've talked to the Skaikru's main healer and have learned much. These Omegas have never experienced their true nature. They have been shaped by a unique upbringing. Clarke will never grovel to an Alpha the way our own Omegas do. She is Lexa's equal and this is made evident by the Bond." Titus bowed to Clarke but his eyes were distrustful. "We must show our people, the clans of the ground, that this Omega deserves to be listened to."
"She is my Queen." Lexa declared. Anya looked at Clarke and the blonde stared right back, her eyes steady, her face hard. She was standing tall in her fighting leathers, her boots laced tight at her ankles. She had one of Lexa's daggers strapped to her thigh. She looked ready for battle if only the body underneath the clothing matched. Anya could see the soft curves of the Omega in front of her; she did not have the lean, hard muscles of the Alphas. She was meant to bring forth life, not take it. Omegas should be pampered, clothed in comfort, not expected to defend. She felt disgust at the mockery they were making of the Omega. Anya pointed at Lexa.
"When the Omega dies because you put a target on her back and sent her into the wild to stand her own, remember this day and this warning and know you brought it on yourself." She walked out of the room.
Lexa followed her angrily.
"I wasn't finished. There are plans we must make and I need you." Lexa grabbed Anya by the arm before she could move any farther.
"Lexa, I cannot stand idly by while you make these foolish choices. This goes against everything we know." Lexa released Anya's arm.
"I need you to go to the Skaikru camp with Clarke." Lexa said. Lexa trusted Clarke but as she told Anya before, she would always protect her. Lexa had to call the Coalition together and she could not go with Clarke to the Skai Camp.
"Her clan has different values and core traditions. She is to explain the etiquette of our lands and extend an invitation to the Coalition to her clan's leader. I, and our people, will view Clarke as their leader but the adults of her camp do not see her as such. They will need time to adjust to the change so we will give them the illusion of choice."
"The Bond." Anya said aloud to herself. "You completed the Bond so she could be a leader. No one would give an Omega authority without it." She shook her head. "I will not go out into those woods with your Omega without first evaluating her skills and training her if necessary."
"As you wish." Lexa conceded. "I need her trained regardless of the skills she has. Eventually, I need her to be one of the best warriors within these walls."
"Her body is not meant for that and you know it."
Lexa growled. "Then you have a challenge on your hands."
Clarke was having a very tense staring contest with Titus when Lexa returned. She couldn't shake the feeling that the man did not like her. Not that he seemed to particularly like anybody and not that anybody seemed to like Clarke all that much anyways.
"Come, Anya is going to assay your skills in combat."
"My skills? I wouldn't call the way I fight, skill. It's mostly a desperate attempt to stay alive." Clarke's eyes widen. "She's gonna beat the shit out of me." Lexa laughed. Clarke looked at her sideways, the sound of her laughter making her heart swell.
"She will do no such thing."
Clarke walked beside Lexa as she calmly strolled through the halls of the Tower of Polis. "Before I became Commander, I was Anya's Second. Do you know what it means to be someone's Second?"
"Like an apprentice?"
"Similar." Lexa nodded. "She taught me much of what I know." She paused. "Regarding fighting and battle, that is. She is a very strong General and is a patient and thorough teacher. Besides, today, she will only be determining your ability level and maybe showing you basics if necessary."
"If necessary." Clarke sighed. "Of course, it's going to be necessary. I don't know anything about fighting! Everything I know is from what we taught ourselves when we first landed down here. I've seen the way the Grounders fight; it's all about control and reading the next steps before they're taken. I can't do that."
"You will." Lexa made the statement like it was the only thing that made sense. There was only one outcome and that was that Clarke would come out the other side of Anya's training stronger and a warrior. She reached out for the Omega's hand and intertwined their fingers. "I know it." Her voice, her face, her eyes were resolute. She left no room for doubt and Clarke found herself believing her.
