Another Love | Clexa (Completed)

Chapter 4: Meetings And Greetings

Clarke woke up with a start.

She wasn't at the Mountain. She was here, at Polis of all places.

She was here at the tip of the Polis tower - an impossible architecture on an impossible earth.

She has been having the nightmares again. It has been a year since the fall of the mountain. And also the beginning of the new found animosity between the two clans.

Clarke remembered landing on earth in the dropship along with the 100 prisoners, as clear as yesterday. They had reached a sort of status quo with the Grounders, before Anya had betrayed them at the mountain. Sometimes Clarke wondered if it had been Anya, or someone much more powerful, her wife, for example.

She shook her head and sat up. There was no point thinking about it now. The bed beside her was empty. The sunlight filtered through the drapes on the windows and fell on the crumpled sheet beside her. When had Lexa woken up and left?

And then it hit her.

"Shit!"

Clarke jumped out of the bed. She was supposed to be at the Ambassador meeting first thing in the morning. Lexa must be there.

"Oh float me!" she swore under her breath and started pulling on her jeans and shirt, before breaking into a run for the throne room.

***

The Ambassadors stood up as Clarke skidded to a halt in front of the throne room.

She looked around, gulped nervously and wondered what she was supposed to do now.

The only empty spot in the room was the one beside Lexa's throne. Clarke walked right to the front and gingerly day down.

"Wanheda," a few of the ambassadors bowed.

"You're late," Lexa hissed at her.

"I'm sorry," Clarke whispered back. "I lost track of time. I'm used to alarms."

"Get used to this."

Clarke nodded. She had managed to piss Lexa off on the very first day! Great going, Griffin, she told herself sarcastically.

The meeting with the ambassadors was a rather insipid affair. However Clarke found it fascinating. She had never thought about how similar the lives of the Grounders could be, to theirs.

People came to Lexa to resolve their squabbles, to complain about their distresses, and Lexa patiently listened to all of them and solved their problems.

Quiet for the most part, Clarke observed how Lexa dealt with every single complaint and discussion with equal importance. As her subjects left happy, each time, Clarke saw a side of Lexa that she did not think she would see. Here was a woman who had devoted her entire life to her people, making every single little problem of theirs, her own. And she was hardly older to Clarke by a year or two. As Lexa promised and check out the case of a Paula attack in a neighbouring village, by heading a kill party herself, Clarke began to find a newfound respect for the Commander.

"This is hardly the place to daydream, Clarke," Clarke heard Lexa whisper to her in a low voice.

"I'm not daydreaming, I'm thinking. Give me some credit, Commander!" Clarke hissed back at Lexa.

Lexa shot a piercing glance at Clarke, and then turned to the villager in front of her, "This is something I cannot control, Xaro. I understand the water resources in your village are poisoned, so I can send a few people to help the families relocate..."

"What did you say the symptoms again, Xaro?" Clarke asked, cutting off Lexa.

"What?" Xaro, looked at Clarke confused.

"What is happening to the people when they drink the water?"

"Clarke how is that relevant," Lexa looked at her queationingly.

"It does matter, trust me, Lexa." Clarke nodded. "What exactly is happening to the people, Xaro?"

"They're vomiting and suffering from pain and dehydration," Xaro said. "Some are afraid of heights, and going into shock."

"I know that one," Clarke said confidently. It happened with us once when we first landed here. That's arsenic poisoning!"

"And?" Lexa raised her eyebrow at Clarke. "How does that help?"

"That helps because we...as in Arkadians, we know how to treat it. We have medicines for it. And for treating the water."

Lexa narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure?"

Clarke gulped under Lexa's piercing gaze. "Yea...yes. I am sure Commander. My mother and Jackson will be able to treat the people. And with Raven's help, we can treat the water sources as well."

"Very well," Lexa gave a curt nod. "I will summon Skaikru to help us with this."

The meeting soon came to an end and the Ambassadors streamed out of the Throne room.

Clarke began walking out along with the rest, when Lexa called her.

"Would you stay back a moment, Clarke?"

Clarke turned and nodded, "Yea, what do you need, Commander?"

"Lexa," she corrected Clarke again. "Call me Lexa, please. And thank you for the solution today. I'm sorry I judged you too soon."

"Judged me? What did you judge me as?" Clarke asked, confused, and Lexa looked down at her feet guiltily. And then it struck Clarke. "You didn't think I was up for this, we're you? You married me, just as a trophy to brandish against Skaikru so that they don't attack you. You didn't think I was competent enough to be an Ambassador and actually work with you, did you, Commander?"

"Clarke that is not what I..."

"No, that is exactly what you thought," Clarke said, moving closer to Lexa, anger coursing through her. "Well guess what Heda, Clarke Griffin can hold her own under any situation. I survived here when we were thrown here first, and I will not just survive Polis, but thrive!"

Lexa felt her back touch the handles of the throne as she moved back against Clarke's rage. She gripped the arm of the throne to maintain her balance, opening her mouth to find something to say, when a voice interrupted them.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Clarke and Lexa turned around to find Costia standing at the door.

Lexa regained her shaken composure, and said, "No...no, come in, Costia."

Costia walked into the room, her eyes on Clarke. She stopped right in front of her, and extended her arm,"Wanheda, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you."

Clarke swallowed, controlling her flare of anger from before, and shook Costia's hand.

"Please don't use that name. Call me Clarke."

"Clarke...our Commander's new wife...so how's life with the Commander, Clarke?"

Lexa shot a worried look at Costia, wondering where she was going with this.

"It's good, thank you." Clarke nodded and smiled politely.

"I'm Costia, by the way. I hope the Commander has told you who I am," Costia winked at Lexa, who looked at Clarke and wondered if she should have told the truth sooner.

Clarke looked at the silent conversation and tension between Lexa and Costia curiously, wondering what was going on.

"Um...I'm not sure, I might have missed it..." She said to Costia.

"Oh you haven't, I'm sure. Or how can you forget hearing about your newly wed wife's lover, Clarke?" Costia smiled, and Clarke was left staring at Costia's smug and Lexa's unreadable expressions.

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A/n: Thoughts about Costia? How do you think Clarke is going to shape up, in this story? Looking forward to your comments.
Next chapter will be up by the weekend, or sooner.