Wanheda - A Clexa Fanfiction

Chapter 3

Indra and her men were standing in front of her, motionless, staring at her. Lexa felt the blood freezing in her body. The Commander's piercing green eyes were filled with terror as they remained glued to Indra's alarmed gaze. Indra had known Lexa since she was a child. Although Lexa was very good at hiding any kind of emotion, Indra had learned to understand her. It took her little to realize that the young Commander had begun to have feelings towards the leader of the Sky Peope. It had been a long time since Indra saw Lexa like that. The last person Lexa had been in love with was Costia, and Costia's death had destroyed her. Lexa had never been the same again. Indra had never seen her laugh again, at least until she met Clarke of the Sky People. Something was ignited in the young Commander, something that had long since died and that Indra believed would have remained buried forever. Indra knew that Clarke was Lexa's weakness, even though the Commander tried not to show it. Yet, the purely human side of Indra, the one who was fond of the young girl she had seen grow up, couldn't bear the idea that Lexa would have to face that pain again.
Indra could read the terror in Lexa's green eyes.
-"Well, what are you waiting for...? Go, maybe it's not too late!"
Indra cleared her voice.
-"Heda...don't you remember the agreement you made with the other generals? It is not possible to take Wanheda away from a general, it would mean to declare war to all clans..."
Lexa's hands trembled. She squeezed her fists tightly around the hilt of her swords, which she wore tied to her hips.
- "I remember, Indra. You're right, it's too late. Come on, we won't try to catch Wanheda. The shipment is cancelled, you can go back to your abitations."
Octavia Blake looked in disbelief at the Commander who had already turned her back on them.
-"But Commander, Clarke is in danger! We can't let Nia kill her!"
Lexa turned slowly. On the stone face she had engraved an indecipherable expression. Her gaze was empty. She was again the cold and ruthless Commander of the 12 clans, the Commander for whom love was weakness, for whom feelings were weakness.
-"Octavia kom Skaikru, do you dare question my word? I cannot declare war on 11 clans just to save Clarke, and you know it."
That said, Lexa turned her back on them and left, heading for the palace.
Octavia turned to Indra in dismay.
-"Indra, we can't let her die! Lexa doesn't want that, you know that too! She had to say that, but you know she wouldn't want anything bad to happen to Clarke!"
Indra gave Octavia a cold, determined look.
-"You've heard the words of your Commander, Octavia kom Skaikru. You must never contradict the words of your Commander. Let's go."
With a heel shot she put the horse on the road, and reached Lexa.
Octavia did not follow her. It was possible to see determination in her eyes. The Commander may have resigned, but she wouldn't have let Clarke be killed, that's for sure.
She pushed the horse and galloped to Arkadia.
...
Lexa sat motionless on her throne in Polis, listening to what her subjects had to say. Or rather, she heard their words, but she didn't really listen to them. She couldn't. Indra was standing next to her, and Lexa sensed that she occasionally gave her apprehensive glances.
Lexa was motionless, stoic, ice-cold. Her behavior did not betray any emotion, yet Indra knew that it was not possible that the Commander did not feel anything. So she kept an eye on her, worried that her stone armor might shatter at any moment. And so it happened. Lexa suddenly got up.
-"The hearing is over, I beg your pardon, please come back to me tomorrow."
She walked far and wide from the throne room surrounded by the complaints of those who couldn't talk to her. Indra quickly followed her along the stone bleachers and through the long corridors to her room. Indra knocked at the door, she received no answer, but went in anyway.
Lexa was standing, motionless, watching the Capital outside her windows. Indra approached with caution. She stopped next to her, observing in turn the panorama of the city.
-"I won't let them hurt her, Indra. Not again."
-"You will do what needs to be done, Heda. I trust in you as well as your people."
-"I don't know if I can do it this time, Indra."
-"You love your people, Heda. Your job is to protect them, you will make the right choice."
...
Octavia quickly dismounted from her horse. As soon as the guards saw her, they ran to open the gate. Octavia rushed to the infirmary, where she knew she would find Abby. As she had predicted, Clarke's mother was intent on taking care of a patient, cleaning up some wounds.
Octavia ran into her.
-"Abby, they found Clarke!"
The woman turned suddenly, her eyes full of apprehension.
-"What happened, is she okay?"
-"I don't know...I hope so, but we have to help her. The queen of Azgeda has captured her, they want to kill her. We have to talk to Lexa."
-"Lexa? The Commander betrayed us, Octavia. She doesn't care about our people."
Octavia shook her head.
-"You don't understand, you had to see her... Lexa wanted to find Clarke, but she didn't make it in time. You should have seen her eyes when she heard they had her. she doesn't want them to kill her, Abby. Lexa is the Commander of the 12 clans, she's the only one who can help us."
Abby looked down thoughtfully.
-"Why not send someone to retrieve her? Some of our own. We can't trust Lexa, Octavia."
-"We can't do that. Taking Wanheda away from one of the clan generals means declaring war on him. All the other clans would attack us, which is why Lexa couldn't send Indra to save Clarke."
Abby nodded in resignation.
-"I'll talk to Lexa. You go talk to Bellamy, Raven and the others. We're leaving for Polis."
...
Lexa overheard a knock on her bedroom door.
-"Enter."
The door opened, Indra went in and closed the door behind her.
-"Heda, you have visitors."
Lexa turned up surprised.
-"Who is it?"
- "The Skaikru, Heda. They're here to talk to you."
-"Tell them I'll meet them in the meeting room."
Indra cleared her voice.
-"I think they're here in secret, Heda. What they want to talk about is classified. They're waiting in a hut. I tell them to go away?"
Lexa thought about it for a second.
-"No, I'll talk to them."
Indra seemed upset by the Commander's response.
-"It may not be safe, Heda. There's not good blood between you and the Skaikru now."
Lexa put on her cape and took up her arms.
-"I'll talk to them, Indra. Take me to them."
...
Indra and the Commander left the palace, careful not to attract unwanted looks. The hut was not far away. Indra entered first, then leaned over and beckoned to the Commander to follow her.
Upon entering the cabin, Lexa found herself facing Octavia Blake and others. She recognized some of them, there was the mechanic, the girl who cut off the power at Mount Weather so they could open the door, there was Bellamy Blake, Octavia's brother, the guy who snuck into Mount Weather and helped Clarke defeat the Mountain Men, the guy that Clarke had always paid too much attention to, the guy she seemed to care more about than anyone else. Then there was Kane, whose role had never been particularly clear to Lexa, and finally there was Abby, Clarke's mother. When she entered the hut she received no sign of respect, only grim looks. After all, their last meeting was not the best.
Kane was the first to speak.
-"Hello, Commander. I guess you know why we're here."
Lexa lowered her eyes.
- "I guess it's about Clarke."
Abby approached Lexa, followed by Indra's grim look.
-"Commander, you have to help us. You can't let them kill Clarke, you owe it to us, you owe it to Clarke. My daughter saved your life that time in the forest, you can't stand still in front of all this..."
Lexa raised her right hand to interrupt her.
- "I'm sorry, Abigail of the Sky People, I don't want them to kill Clarke, but unfortunately we have no choice. I can't kidnap Clarke, it would mean breaking the peace between the clans."
Abby turned to the others.
-"Give us a moment alone, please." Everyone left the hut, except for Indra. Lexa turned to her.
- "You can leave us alone, Indra."
Indra came out of the cabin, not after giving Abby a grim look.
Abby turned to the commander again.
-"Lexa, I know Clarke, I'm her mother. I know there was something going on between you two, Clarke cared about you, and I'm sure it was the same for you. Please don't let my daughter die. No one needs to know that you helped us, but please don't let them hurt her."
Lexa looked down. In front of Clarke's mother she felt incredibly fragile, she felt like she was still a child. Suddenly she felt the hard armor of the Commander getting thinner and thinner, she felt all the emotions she had tried to repress during those months pressing on her heart. She wanted to put her people in front of everything like she always did, but she couldn't accept the idea of Clarke being killed. If she hadn't done anything to save the one she loved, even this time, if she had let Nia kill her, she would never have forgiven herself. She looked up and her eyes met Abby's.
-"I will help you, Abigail of the Sky People. I will not let Azgeda kill Clarke."