The One Who's Fallen

Chapter 39

"But we are a danger to the Maunon." I point out. "Are you saying they will inevitably kill us?"

"No. I am saying we will have to be smart and make sure their attempts to kill us fail." Lexa says, giving me a soft smile. "I had Mara mark a map of the road where she saw Maunon."

She picks up a rolled piece of paper and spreads it out on the table, using small rocks to make sure it stays open. There are a lot of red dots, more than I expected. I take it all in, trying to find patterns.

"Clarke, look." Lexa murmurs. "They are on the inside of every curve. That gives them a good vantage point. They can see exactly where we are."

Vantage point... "Do you mind if I draw on this?" I ask.

"No." Lexa responds, then watches me work silently.

I start drawing lines from every dot. Most of them match up almost perfectly. "You were right, they are watching us. They have the entire road covered. It's useless if they're just on their own, so some of the technology Mara saw must have been radios to tell the Maunon our position" I pause, realizing something. "Like you said earlier, they could observe us the entire way. Watch our interactions."

"Do you think we should change the way we act around each other, then?" Lexa asks.

I purse my lips and think for a moment. "No. If they've been observing you since you became Heda, they might notice some inconsistencies."

"Alright." She nods. I'm glad she sees my point. "Clarke, look here. There's overlap." Lexa says, pointing out a few dots that don't make sense if they want to know where we are.

I look at the four dots and see another pattern. "Yes, but they're not random. They're at the spots with the longest view point facing towards where we're coming from. I think they want pictures of us."

"Pictures? Why?" Lexa wonders aloud.

"Then they can pick us out in a crowd."

"So for a future assassination?"

"It's possible, but not necessarily. They'll be able to confirm that we are at a place and that it's not just someone that looks like us."

Lexa lets out a breath. "That is a good strategy. Do we let them do this?" She says the last sentence quietly.

"Is there another way?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No."

"Then we let them watch us. They're scared, Lexa. They're scared of you, of us together. They fear you because you have the power and the strength to take them down, and now you have me. As you said earlier, I'm an unknown variable. They can't predict what I'll do or what you'll do when you're with me. And you know what, they're right to fear us. Maybe instead of lashing out when they're frightened, they'll be paralyzed in fear." I muse.

"I did not know that you are so motivational." Lexa says.

I'm about to respond when I see the teasing glint in her eyes. She was joking with me. When Lexa notices that I can tell she's joking, her face breaks out into a large smile.

"I think you could be right." Lexa admits. "I never underestimate my enemies, but perhaps I have been overestimating them. They are scared, and have been for so long I am not sure they know how to live without it. With you by my side, we can free our people from the Maunon. And I think they know that."

"Our people?" I ask, smiling.

"Uh, yes." Lexa says, blushing and hesitant sounding. It's absolutely adorable. "It is perfectly fine if you still see the Ark people as yours, I just-"

"Lexa." I cut her off, waiting until she meets my eyes. Dang, I've got the Commander of the Twelve Clans blushing because I've flustered her. I'm definitely going to have to do a happy dance or something when I think about this later. "The people on the Ark haven't been my people for a long time. I'm glad you think of me as one of your people."

We stand there for a few moments, just shyly looking at each other. I'm going to take this as a sign that Lexa might possibly like me. Then, of course, the moment is broken by Anya strutting in. She looks from me to Lexa a few times and then smirks.

"Heda, you told us that you wanted a meeting today at this time. Should I reschedule for later?" Anya sounds so smug, like she walked in on us making out or something. I bet Lexa's lips would be... No Clarke, not now. Stop drooling.

"No." Lexa straightens her back, going into Commander Mode again. "Clarke and I have been discussing plans."

Anya's eyes brighten, and she almost looks excited. "Oh, finally!" She drawls. "Who asked who out? When's the date?"

Lexa and I both blush, and she clears her throat before responding to Anya. "That is not what I meant. We have been discussing where we will travel. When everyone has arrived, we will tell you what we decided and what we expect will happen."

Anya just rolls her eyes and mutters. "Branwodas (idiots/fools)."

Then, Indra comes in (looking more annoyed than usual) followed by Luna.

"What had gotten you in a bad mood?" Luna asks Anya when she sees her.

"I thought that these two branwodas finally did something about their mutual attraction. Maybe I need to knock their heads together so their combined brains can realize they are being fools." Anya grumbles.

"Let them figure it out, it will work out eventually." Luna advises.

"Can we get to the plans?" Indra asks.

"Of course." Lexa responds.

It doesn't take us (Lexa sometimes had me explain things) long to tell them what route we're taking and why. To say the least, they aren't really happy about it but understood why. They did get Lexa to agree to having more guards than just Gustus. It takes much longer to talk to them about the Maunon and what they're doing alongside the road. We'll have to brief the guards tomorrow to make sure they know not to attack unless they feel we are in immediate danger.

Thank you for being patient! This is being posted a lot later than I hoped, but hopefully Lexa and Clarke being gay nerds makes up for it :) Thank you all for reading and your lovely comments! Stay awesome!