Commander's Redemption | Clexa

Chapter 26

A courier barges into the meeting room in the early afternoon with a message for the Heda.

"Heda, three emissaries from Azgeda are at the gate of the city. They are requesting an audit with you," the woman says, out of breath from running all the way to the Tower to convey the message as soon as possible.

Lexa, initially a bit annoyed at the interruption, gets up from her chair, her hands placed side by side on the table in front of her and her spine straight.

"I'll allow them to enter. Bring them to the throne room, but take their weapons and have them searched," her stern, authoritative voice sounds.

The courier nods her head, disappearing behind the door where she can be heard conveying Lexa's message to the guards posted there.

"Alright, Ambassadors. We will have to halt this meeting early today and proceed tomorrow. It seems like we'll finally find out whether we are a Kongeda of twelve or thirteen clans."

She gently lays her hand on Clarke's arm as the latter gets up with the other Ambassadors in an attempt to leave the room with them, and she can feel the blonde shaking like a leaf under her touch.

"Clarke," Lexa starts hesitantly, "I know that the people of the Ice Nation being here isn't... ideal for you and I'm sorry. I'll have them out as soon as possible, but this needs to happen. It's already been too long. And I'd like for you to join me if you are up for it. I value your opinion and you have... experience with them. If the new royalty they introduce to me is one of the people who personally laid their hands on you, they will not be allowed back into my Coalition."

After a moment of silence, she adds, "If not, that's okay too. I don't want you to..."

"I'll do it," Clarke interrupts her, a little louder than she had intended and before she can think about it too much.

The pair make their way down to the elevator and ride the contraption up to the throne room. The entire time, the brunette could feel her own hands itch to grab ahold of the blonde's hand and give it a comforting squeeze, or soothingly rub her thumb back and forth on her knuckles. But she didn't.

Lexa sits down on her throne, whipping out her trusty dagger both to fidget with it and keep her hands occupied as well as to have it ready if these three Azgeda folks had any ill intentions.

The trio of broad, tall warriors with scarred faces walk in and kneel respectfully in front of Lexa, their eyes cast down.

"That is a promising sign," Lexa thinks to herself.

Then, after her say so, they all rise, and Lexa lets her eyes wander over them all. She can tell Clarke is doing the same thing, but for different reasons.

They didn't have their faces painted white and the scars on them were all healed, meaning they weren't on a war path currently. And none of them looked fully evil or malicious or like they'd spent their youth killing kittens for fun.

But of course, there was the tallest of the three...

"Roan, you've got some nerve showing your face here after you escaped my prison and after taking Wanheda to your mother," Lexa says coldly.

She had already noticed Clarke was slightly cowering behind her and it made her furious to know these people had that effect on the blonde. And she had only found out for certain recently that Roan had been the one to take Clarke to the Queen of the Ice Nation. Well, the former Queen.

She could understand why. The former Prince had been desperate to be with his family and his people and Lexa herself had been the one to deny him that. She had been personally responsible for not honoring the promise she had made him. And she had done it out of spite, because realistically, she knew Roan had nothing to do with Azgeda invading her lands and breaking Kongeda rules, but she had been outraged about it which had made her feel vindictive.