Love Is Weakness

Settling In

I soon had my own tent in the camp, not to far from Lexa's, away from the crowd of huts that the other grounders resided in. It was good to have a place to stay, though it was hardly used in the day, only providing a place for me to sleep at night.

Just over a week had passed since Lincoln and I had arrived, in which I had done very little apart from explore every inch of the camp, not able to do much else under Lexa's watchful eye.

If she wasn't checking up on me every five minutes, not succeeding in her attempts to be discreet, then a Grounder would be assigned to shadow me so there was no chance of me slipping out of camp.

To be fair, if Lexa wasn't keeping me under such close observation I would've snuck out days ago, feeling an irresistible urge to just wander through the forest and take in my new surroundings but no such luck.

It hadn't helped matters when on the second day of my stay, a horse had bolted without warning, tearing away from the Grounder that had been tending it.

Of course I had been taking my regular stroll through camp at the time, completely oblivious to the crazed horse as I let my mind wander freely, not paying attention to what was happening around me.

A few Grounders began to call out in warning, having seen the horse charging straight in my direction, throwing its head wildly from side to side.

Wrenched out of my thoughts by their voices I spun to see the beast heading my way and lept to the side just in time, barely managing to escape it's pounding hooves as it tore straight on past me.

My landing was less then graceful as I hit the ground awkwardly, knocking my bruised ribs in the process.

Lexa, who had been emerging from her tent at the time, rushed over to where I was now kneeling on the ground, clutching my stomach as I waited for the pain to pass.

'It's alright, I'm okay' I insisted, gritting my teeth as she helped to pull me to my feet, the concern clear in her expression.

Once satisfied that I wasn't injured, she had rounded on the Grounders that had been tending to the horses, demanding to know which one of them had endangered my life.

When one of them nervously stepped forwards I was certain Lexa was going to kill him there and then if I had not pulled her to one side and insisted that it was my fault for not paying attention, it wasn't worth killing over.

She had reluctantly agreed with the slightest nod of her head, instead commanding the Grounder go and retrieve the horse, adding that if he valued his life he should be more careful in the future or pay for his carelessness.

I frowned slightly as I watched the Grounder hurry into the woods after the horse, not entirely happy with the added threat but at least no-one had died, it was definitely a step in the right direction.

After that event I was hardly surprised that the Grounder in front of me looked so nervous, fully aware of the commanders gaze resting on us.

Now that my injuries had healed I was eager to start with my training and had been constantly nagging Lexa until she had finally relented.

We were stood in a fairly large clearing, not to far from camp, a number of Grounders already exchanging blows around us.

Lexa had wanted to assess my skill at fighting before she began to teach and had placed a sword in my hand, instructing a Grounder to take position opposite me before retreating a few steps to watch.

I felt ridiculous holding the sword that felt wrong in my hand, watching how the Grounder wielded his effortlessly.

'Remind me why I am doing this again' I said to Lexa, trying to get a comfortable grip on the handle.