𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑, bellamy blake ²

04; betrayal

"I was wild and tame and pulled into shreds and crushed into being all at once."

― Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver

➳ ➳ ➳


THE COMMANDER CAME TO HER THAT EVENING, AS SHE WAS SKINNING THE DEER.

She had war-paint pressed on her face, matching Naomi's own. Her two swords were tucked into her belt and she hung her arms passively by her side. Noe regarded her silently, using her knife to cut away the deer's skin.

Lexa held a wax candle in her hand, lit and flickering against the wind from the open window. She placed the candle against the set of drawers across from Naomi's bed—a sign of respect for the dead. It spluttered in the late hours of the evening.

"I'm sorry," she told Naomi, hands crossed over her chest. The younger girl looked up now, placing the knife beside the deer. She sunk her arms into her lap. Lexa took a seat across from her. "She was a mentor to me once. A friend."

Naomi nodded, leaning back to gaze at the Commander. "She was great at both of those." Her fingers played across the arms of her chair. Lexa regarded her with round green eyes. Those eyes always betrayed what the rest of her face portrayed. Now they were sad. Naomi locked her legs over each other. "You want something from me?" Noe asked.

Lexa shook her head softly. "Just to pay my respects."

Naomi nodded, offering a gentle smile and wringing her hands to her chest. She gazed over at the shelf. Serena's gifts for her lay there: a shell from the ocean, a glittering knife and a hooded cloak spread across the wood. Wampleiswis lay among them, memories of those she lost tied around the handle. Her sketchbook rest beside that.

Serena had been perfect. Never could have someone been a better leader; a better mother; a better friend. Kind and beautiful and good and dead. Still awaiting her funeral in the flames—killed by a boy no older than her Second. Quite dead and leaving Naomi and her children very alone.

Lexa shifted from her chair to gaze at Naomi. Her eyebrows were furrowed in gentle concern. "She'll ride forevermore with Hel."

Hel, the Goddess of war and death. Marching into battle with her fennec-skull spear and shield. She wrought war across the lands during Hayoneno {The War of Gods}, fighting with her sisters Ivthys and Xeena. Brave, savage and victorious: the best warrior of all times. Serena would ride with Hel's warriors in the Endlands.

"She will," confirmed Naomi, nodding her head. "Always."

After a moment, the Commander stood. She walked in front of Naomi and placed her hand over the back of her own chair. "Which side are you on?" asked the Commander. Naomi looked up, raising an eyebrow. "There will be a war—you know this. Who will you fight for?" Her tone was more demanding now.

Naomi shook her head and narrowed her eyes. She straightened her back and lifted her chin. "I am the Graunshila. I don't need a side. My job is to protect all lives."

"So you agree with your people?"

"Finn killed my friend. He killed sixteen innocent people. The rest of Skaikru didn't. They want peace. You want my opinion? Initiate a coalition with my people. We can take down the Mountain together."

Lexa shook her head. "We don't need to take down the Mountain."

"So you're just going to let them bleed your people for eternity?" The Commander avoided her gaze. "We both need the Mountain dead. I know that. You know that."