Just Surviving (#Clexa)

Challenge Accepted

Clarke POV

After managing to convince the guards not to follow me out into the courtyard, I make easy work of finding Prince Roan. He's in plain view, twirling his sword and practicing combat moves. I watch for a while, tugging the hood I borrowed over my head. He's evidently a very dangerous man – I would know. But I've also seen that he can be rational. After all, if he'd been nothing but a savage like his mother, he would have killed Bellamy when he could. He would have killed me when he could.

While convincing Lexa not to fight is out of the question, I have a feeling there might be a way to convince Roan.

I'm caught off balance as the man suddenly leaps towards me, his sword whipping through the air to land just under my jawline.

'Is that death I hear stalking me?' he asks flippantly. With the tip of his sword, he yanks the hood back to reveal my face. 'Or just the Commander of Death?'

'We need to talk,' I insist.

'We have nothing to talk about.' He lowers his sword, twisting away. 'I need to prepare.'

'I know you had nothing to do with Mount Weather,' I point out. 'That's why I didn't tell Lexa you gave me the knife.'

He pauses in the twirling of his sword, and I take the chance to dig my claws in even deeper. 'This is what your mother wanted all along.'

'What do you want?' he mutters abruptly. 'Spit it out.'

I stare him straight in the eye. 'I want you to become the king. I know you've thought of it.'

Roan's eyes flicker, and I add, 'She was willing to let you die, willing to let you be banished. I know you just want to go home-'

'When I win today, I will.'

'For how long?' I retort. 'How long until your mother finds another reason to cast you out – to sacrifice you?' After a pause to let him think, I say, 'No one can cast a king out of his kingdom.'

The man lets out a snort, shaking his head. 'I can't do it. My people would never take me back.'

I glower at him, my frustration returned. He won't kill his mother, and Lexa won't back down from the challenge. Only hours remain before the fight, and I don't have much time to solve this. As I'm turning to walk away, Roan mutters, 'Wait.'

I turn back.

'I can help you do it,' he suggests, a glint in his eye.

---

When I enter the queen's chamber, she's sitting down to a meal that could feed a whole village.

'Klark kom Skaikru, my queen,' the guard announces.

The Ice Queen's cold eyes, rimmed with black, glance up to see me standing there at the entrance, her mouth halting in its chewing. As I approach her table, the girl by her side leaves to stand in the corner of the room, allowing us some privacy.

'To what do I owe the pleasure?' the queen asks slyly.

'What if I changed my vote?'

She pauses in subtle surprise, considering me and still chewing. 'Now you're thinking like a leader of your people,' she tells me, amused.

I round the table, eyes never leaving her face. 'I would need some assurances first.'

'Skaikru would be safe,' the Ice Queen offers.

'And me?'

The queen chuckles. 'My quarrel is with Lexa, not you.' With a flourish, she unexpectedly stabs her knife into the table, leaving it jammed in the wood. 'Once she's gone, I won't need the power of Wanheda.'