Cloaked Heart (Silent Moments Series: Book 3)

Chapter 11

 Indra's voice sliced through the tense air, sharp and demanding. "Where's Octavia?" Her eyes, hard and unyielding, scanned the area, as if expecting trouble to materialize from the shadows.

"She's watching over the camp with Clarke," I replied, striving to keep my voice even despite the undercurrents of stress that threatened to surface. The flickering light from the nearby torches cast a wavering glow on our faces, heightening the sense of unease.

"So tell me, Kegan," Lexa's words dripped with a thinly veiled sarcasm, her piercing gaze locking onto mine. "Tell me how this ends. Have you found a way to save your people yet again?"

I met her gaze, unflinching, feeling the weight of history and conflict between our peoples. "No, only you can do that. What happened here was an act of war. Your army was here to help us, and my people slaughtered them. You have every right to respond, to wipe us out. Or you can change the way you do things," I suggested, my voice a blend of sincerity and subtle pleading, echoing in the tense silence that followed.

"Why should she have to change? Blood must have blood," Indra interjected, her stance unwavering, a living embodiment of the old ways, her eyes like flint.

"Really, because from where I stand, the only way that ends is with everyone dead," I countered, my voice rising slightly, infused with a passion born of desperation. "What kind of leader do you want to be? The one who kills at every opportunity because that's her way, or the one who shows the world a better way?"

Lexa's eyes narrowed, her expression a complex tapestry of contemplation and resistance. "You consider not avenging a massacre a better way?" Her question hung in the air, a challenge that resonated with the gravity of our situation.

"If it stops the cycle of violence, yes. If it brings about peace, yes. Someone has to take the first step; let it be you," I urged, my voice steady yet imbued with emotion, reaching out to her not just as a leader, but as a person capable of change.

Lexa's gaze drifted away, a storm of conflict playing out in her eyes. She took a few steps back, distancing herself from the group, her silhouette etched against the dim light. I followed, each step a testament to my resolve.

"You say you want peace, that everything you have done has been to achieve that. Yet here we stand on the brink of another war. A war you can stop," I continued, my words deliberate, hoping to reach the heart beneath the armor of the Commander.

"Commander, you can't seriously be considering this," Indra's voice broke through, tinged with disbelief and a trace of fear.

Lexa turned, her eyes locking with mine, a newfound determination flickering within them. "I'm not considering it," she declared, her voice resonating with authority and decision. "I'm doing it."

Inside, a surge of elation and relief washed over me, but I masked my emotions, maintaining a composed exterior.

"Heda, please," Indra's plea was laced with a mix of loyalty and apprehension, her stance softening slightly in her appeal.

"Indra, our people act as if war is easier than peace. If so, shouldn't we try for the more difficult goal?" Lexa's voice grew in conviction, her words echoing with the wisdom of a leader torn between duty and a new path.

"Polis will not support you. Titus will not," Indra warned, her voice heavy with the weight of political reality.

"Titus is my subject, they're all my subjects!" Lexa's retort was fierce, a rare display of raw emotion. "Do you say they will defy me? Will you defy me?"

Indra's response came after a moment heavy with tension. "No, Heda, I will not," she spoke, her voice a blend of respect and resignation.

"Then let it be known," Lexa declared, her gaze now intense, burning with a revolutionary fire. She looked at me, her eyes alight with a mixture of challenge and resolve. "Blood must not have blood."