May we (never) meet again

Chapter 11-Looking at the stars

"Why would Wanheda want you in Arkadia? That doesn't make any sense, Darling." Costia said softly, while combing the Princesses hair just an hour after the political meeting. The two of them were now in the royal chambers, alone and with a little bit of privacy, getting ready for lunch and the third and final ball, that was supposed to be that evening.

"I have no idea, Cos. Really, i don't see a single reason why i should go with my father. Politics aren't my thing, or any royal woman's thing, maybe she wants me there as a hostage, in case something goes bad?" The Princess thought out loud, but all of it was true. It wasn't common for Trikru's leaders to take their children, especially not the if they weren't a male heir, to political meetings. She didn't have much power anyway, it wasn't expected of her to share her opinions in political matters of any kind.

"Mhm..maybe, or maybe she saw your photo and fell in love." The woman chuckled, trying to uplift the atmosphere, while brushing the princess's hair to soft straight perfection. The two of them looked very differently, while the Princess had dark brown hair, maybe even closer to black in some lighting, that were mostly long past her shoulder blades, wavy and straight, her eyes were a contrasting mix of shades from deep ocean blue to gray, almost like the sky before a harsh storm, and her features were soft, but also strong. Costia was almost the exact opposite, her hair was always in tight smaller curles, never exactly keeping its shape or length, the color was light brown, with blonde highlights throughout the curles. She's been doing them for years, it wasn't even a big process by now, with their technology the maintenance was fairly cheap and fast. Her eyes were hazel, with speckles of forest green and yellow all over the place, her face mostly round, with soft and inviting features.

"Oh Spirits, don't even say that! Do you know how horrible would that be?" Lexa said, genuinly a little terrified. She didn't think, that Wanheda would ever want a partner by her side, much less someone from Trikru. But even than, the rumors were enough to know, that she would rather run away than ever get herself into that position.

There were many rumors about the Wanheda and her behavior. The woman, if you could call her that, was an amazing Queen. But Lexa wasn't sure if she was a good human, or even a human. There was many talks about Wanheda being some kind of a monster, who drinks blood of innocent people and gains their energy by killing them. Lexa, of course, didn't think that they were real. But on one side...why else would the woman need her mask? Whatever the reason was, Lexa was in no rush to find it out, or even better, she hoped that she would never have to get even close to finding out.

Some of them even talked about the Wanheda taking woman and men into her palace, doing unspeakable things to them, and than either returning them back as a bare ghosts of who they were before, or not at all. If one thing was sure, nobody wanted to be the one, who the Queen and her guards picked, while she was talking through the city.

"It can't be that bad, Lex. Maybe she just really likes her privacy. You know, i never heard any...brutal rumors about her in Floukru." Costia said, before she put the brush away, and started to lightly braid the Princess's hair, just enough to add two little simple braids on the sides of her face.

But it was true, Floukru was mostly on a good to neutral note with Arcadia. They traded a lot of stuff on their markets, and while the Queen had always have strict policies and rules, they've never had a big problem with violence or unfairness from the guards.

"Do you think, that she will really be there today?" The Princess swiftly changed the subject, not wanting to talk more about politics for the day. She was sure, that there will be plenty of time to discuss her time in Arcadia, after her meeting with Clarke. Maybe she could even ask Clarke if she knows something else, that she doesn't.

"How could anybody ever voluntarily miss out, on the opportunity to be in your royal presence, my highness." Costia smirked, before doing a little twirl to demonstrate, which just got her an eye roll from the other girl.

"Oh yes, how could we ever forget. My presence must be the most precious thing in this whole entire world, you should appreciate such a gift much more, servant."

Both of the women started laughing and the atmosphere in the whole room got much lighter again, the air was filled with excitement and fun. Lexa didn't know, what she will do without her best friend in Arcadia, but she wasn't going to think about it now and ruin her evening. Especially not, since its her day with Clarke. She needed everything to go perfectly, nothing was going to spoil this for her.

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Clarke was fairly sure, that she had absolutely lost her mind that day. Especially when was handpicking white roses from the palace garden, and carefully trimming their thorns to make sure, that they didn't prickle Lexa's hands when she touched them.

Or maybe it was when she packed the stuff for their picknic herself, instead of giving it as a command to her cooks. Small triangle sandwiches, filled with everything from basic cucumbers, to dried ham and cream cheese. She made sure to pack enough fruit, mostly berries, dried apricots, and ripe apples, drie, some cheese with crackers, and a bottle of Arcadia's rose wine.

The dessert was the most difficult part. Sweets were a hot commodity to get almost everywhere, the ingredients were extremely expensive and hard to get, they were mostly reserved for big celebrations or for the royal's. So she just couldn't pack her favorite chocolate moose or chocolate covered strawberries like she planned at first, because the Princess could start to question her.

In the end, she decided to pack a few of her favorite caramel cookies, sugar to make caramel was still less expensive than chocolate, so it worked out, and some berry muffins with maple sirup.

Nobody dared to question her, when she commanded to have her horse ready for her just outside of the woods, that led to Arcadia, and where was one of the many entrees to the tunels.

The blonde put on her carmine red hood, before making sure that all of her supplies were secured, and getting into the saddle. Washing out the dye from her hair took her forever, but there were no traces of it now.

Clarke knew, that Raven would probably kick her ass, if she saw her right now, instead of her royal duty. In full honestly, the blonde had no idea what she was doing. At first, it was supposed to be just a simple mission. Get in the palace, look around and listen for important information, that could help in her case. But when she noticed the Princess standing there alone, and when she heard her sharp attitude, she just couldn't leave her be.

She was pretty sure, that her lie would bite her in the ass much sooner than later. Well technically, she didn't lie. But for how long can she keep the Wanheda and Clarke as two different people, before the truth gets out?

(Or maybe, she wont have to do that at all. Maybe Clarke and Wanheda will learn to coexist in the girl's mind, two different personalities in the same body. Clarke just hoped, that she will be able to make Lexa fall for Wanheda the same way, that she did for Clarke, before the truth comes out.)