𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖚𝖌𝖌𝖑𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖕𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗
STRIDING INTO LEXA'S THRONE ROOM, Glass can feel the dozens of eyes of clan ambassadors lingering on her. She looks at each of them in turn. Sangedakru watches her warily, Trishanakru vengefully, Boudalankru hungrily as of waiting for her to fall from grace, the list goes on and on. The throne rises above them at the back of the circular room lit with candlelight, Fleimkepa Titus to the right, dutifully behind the rightful Commander of the Blood — Lexa.
Glass meets her gaze steadily and they look at each other for a moment. She hasn't forgotten how they left things and it seems Lexa hasn't either.
Thrusting Clarke into the light, Roan snatches the sack from her head. "Wanheda, as promised."
Clarke stares mutinously at Lexa. Her mouth is stuffed with a gag, but Glass can only imagine all the things she has to say. Betrayal seems to come easy to Lexa because Glass had heard all about her traitorous deal with the Mountain Men three moons ago, when she abandoned Skaikru.
"Hello, Clarke," says Lexa tonelessly. She looks to Roan. "The deal was for you to bring her to me unharmed."
"She didn't come easy," he says.
"I expect not," says Lexa coolly.
"He's done his part," Glass cuts in savagely, not in the mood for any diplomatic bullshit. "Do yours. Lift his banishment, Heda."
She says this last part in a sneer and Fleimkepa Titus looks at her murderously. Gross. Glass has forgotten all about how annoying the stupid cow was, always pretty much grovelling at Lexa's feet.
Lexa regards her. "I'm told your mother's army marches on Polis."
"She — what?" Glass stares at her.
"It's true, milady," the Azgeda representative, a short, rather pathetic looking man speaks, out of turn. He bows his head in respect for her, but doesn't look to the rightful Commander. "The Queen has called Heda's command pathetic and longs for the return of real power."
Wide-eyed, Glass and Roan look at each other. His forehead is ashen with creases. Clearly he wasn't informed of this development.
Luckily, Roan is better at diplomacy than she is.
"That has nothing to do with us," he says gruffly. "Honour our deal."
"I'll honour our deal when your Queen honours my coalition," it's Lexa's turn to sneer, though it's almost imperceptible. Her void act hardly slips, as usual. "Lock Prince Roan of Azgeda away."
⚔️
"I'M going to kill her."
"Glass — "
"Really, I will," Glass snarls, pacing back and forth furiously. Heartseeker has never felt lighter in her hands than she does now. "How dare she betray us? I will not be made to look like a — like a fool."
"Glass!" Roan says again, more forcefully this time. Finally she looks at him. "Killing her will get us nowhere."
"Won't it?" Glass snaps. "I'll be Heda, finally... fuck, I should've become her second while I had the chance. I should have never left in the first place. Then we wouldn't be in this mess right now, then I'd have at least some power — !"
Anger scorches her veins as she moves around her old quarters like a caged animal. She hasn't been here since she was a noviciate. . . oh, how stupid she'd been back then. A weak, petulant little girl, nothing more than a half-god draping herself in fineries and riches. And, even though many moons have passed since then — since Trikru, since Skaikru, since everything — it feels like nothing at all has changed. Everything is static. Stagnant.
"To take the Flame stained with the blood of the former Commander will curse your reign," says Roan. "Better you wait for a conclave. For honour."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" She demands. "Nothing? Mother marches an army, Roan. She won't wait for power."
"Neither will we," he says. "There are ways to get it, even now. We only play a different game, that's all. Our power lies in the shadows."
"Politics, you mean?" Glass snorts. "I'd rather stab my own eyes out."
"I'd rather you didn't," he says and she rolls her eyes. "Conquering kingdoms is more than war. There's a certain subtlety you'll need to master if you hope to ever truly rule. You must become the puppet master and dangle the ambassadors alone on threads as Lexa has, little wolf."
"And how am I going to do that?" She asks, half mockingly. He sounds like an idiot.
He grins. "Keep your heart dark and true, your teeth sharp and many."
Whatever that means. Glass is about to demand an explanation about what the fuck he's going on about, but the door to her quarters creaks open and Fleimkepa Titus steps inside. He looks even more displeased to be there than Glass.
"Glass kom Azgedakru," he says in stiff formalities. "Heda requires your presence in the throne room."
"Why?" She asks sharply.
"She needs a new Azgedakru ambassador."
Um, what? There was literally an Azgedakru ambassador in the throne room just hours ago, Glass had seen him before she and Roan got locked away in her old quarters. She looks at Fleimkepa Titus incredulously — maybe his old age has finally addled his brain — but Roan gives her a stern look and his previous words echo in her head.
"Fine." Glass sheathes Heartseeker.
The walk to the throne room is quick. Fleimkepa Titus doesn't so much as look at her, which is fine by her.
When she gets there, Lexa is absent. But there is the same Azgedakru ambassador. Her brow furrows and she finally glances at Titus, but he still doesn't look at her. Unbothered, he just strides to his spot behind the right side of the throne and leaves Glass to stand with the other ambassadors in confusion.
Finally, footsteps echo in the corridor and then Lexa sweeps in.
"Ortum gon tuus Heda," Fleimkepa Titus commands.
Rise for your Commander.
Ambassadors all around bow their heads as Lexa marches past them, stopping to look behind only once she's reached the throne. Even Glass dips her head, though it's subtle and she is silently fuming.
But she's found herself in Lexa's game again, and she needs to obey the rules of politics now.
Only one person does not bow. The Azgedakru ambassador.
"Azgeda et arcum fou tuus Heda," Titus orders.
Ice Nation will bow before your Commander.
"Heda oportet et arcum Azgeda, fou natblida Glass en quod Kwin," the ambassador retorts. "Osir scio nou kom foedus kom inimicos nostros."
The Commander should bow before Ice Nation, before nightblood Glass and the Queen. We know not to make treaties with our enemies.
He speaks of the treaty with Mount Weather. He must be. It's true, the alliance Lexa formed with the Mountain made her look weak — especially when Clarke was able to then take down the Mountain without her help. Lexa made all of the clans in the komgeda look weak.
And Azgeda has no room for weakness. That must be why the Queen seems ready for war.
(But why didn't she tell Glass?)
"Heda arcum nemo ante," Titus snarls.
The Commander bows before no one.
"Stand down, Titus," Lexa drawls monotonously, as if Azgeda is nothing to her.
Titus obeys.
"Em vel potius hostibus sleng," the Azgeda ambassador sneers.
She even prefers the enemies language.
"And you will use it, too, in honour of our guests this evening," says Lexa and Glass's brow furrows — what guests? "Now stand down. We have more important matters to discuss."
"Yes, we do," the ambassador seems to have decided he is not above the warrior tongue. "For example, why is Wanheda still alive? If this is your weakness again, Azgeda will happily step in."
He looks to Glass for support. Gritting her teeth, she keeps her mouth shut.
Keep your heart dark and true, your teeth sharp and many.
"Is this why your army has moved so close to Polis?" Titus demands heatedly. "Because you believe the Commander is weak?"
"Oh," he waves them off like it's silly to even ask. "Those are just military exercises."
Glass hides her snort.
"Exercises?" Indra, Trikru's ambassador, echoes in a snarl. "You crossed the border into Trikru land, an army within striking distance of our beloved capital."
"A mistake that was quickly rectified, as you well know."
"The Ice Queen doesn't make mistakes. She makes threats," Titus growls
"There's no need to argue about this again," says Lexa calmly. "Please, come join me. Let us speak in private. I have a message for Queen Nia."
The ambassador puffs his chest importantly, striding to meet her at the balcony.
"And I'll happily deliver — "
Thrusting her leg into his chest, Lexa kicks him off of the balcony. His screams fade into the distance as he tumbles from the top of the tower.
She faces the room with a dark edge to her voice. "Would anyone else care to question my decisions?"
Apparently no one cares to, since no one does.
"Good — oh, Glass, it's excellent that you're here," says Lexa, a malicious glint in her eyes as she takes her place back atop the throne. "As you can see, I'm in dire need of an Azgeda representative... what do you say, natblida? Care to serve me?"
Glass can feel her intestines twist with divine violence.
"One former noviciate to another," continues Lexa chillingly. "I'd recommend you take the job. Azgeda's just found itself in a dangerous position, and your brother is entirely in my power now."
Keep your heart dark and true, your teeth sharp and many.
So, with every word the Queen has ever spoken to her screaming inside her head for her to stop, a civil war raging inside her mind, Glass dips her head to hide the curl of her lip and sinks to her knees.
"Ai serve meus, Heda."
I will serve, Heda.
"Good," Lexa's mouth curves with dark satisfaction. She looks across the room. "Then let us begin."
⚔️
WHEN LEXA ANNOUNCED a summit and Roan predicted it would be held to induct Skaikru as the thirteenth clan into the coalition, Glass was fine. First she was annoyed — Skaikru is hardly anything like any of the other clans and doesn't really deserve a seat at their table — but then she realized that when she takes over the coalition one day, she'd be Heda over them too.
And she's more than OK with that.
But when she actually gets to the summit and sees Clarke in traditional clan garb that is so extravagant she looks like the Commander, Glass has to pause. Thick lines of black are smeared beneath her eyes. War paint. But what does this fool know of war? Clarke might be a leader, but not the kind that would lead troops into battle. Her golden hair is braided back intricately, looped and twisted in such a fashion that Glass knows multiple handmaidens must have spent hours on it. Lexa's own personal handmaidens. And the armor that she wears is traditionally worn by warriors who have earned the right to do so, who are being honored by the Spirits of the Commanders.
Clarke has not fought for the war paint. She cannot be honored by the Spirits of the Commanders when she knows nothing of the clan ways. And yet she stands tall beside Lexa, almost smug, as if she has earned her power.
Meanwhile Roan, a hardened warrior and a Prince, is locked away.
But Glass watches from the sidelines, leaving her frustrations clenched in her fists. The throne room is no place to start a battle, even she knows that.
And she will admit, there is a dark satisfaction in watching Clarke — Wanheda — bow before Lexa. Bow before the coalition. It's a surrender.
"Hail warriors of the twelve clans," Lexa's coarse voice echoes through the chamber.
"Hail, Commender of the Blood," voices of ambassadors and warriors and Glass bleed together as they kneel.
"Rise," the Heda commands.
They do.
"We welcome Skaikru to our halls in the spirit of friendship and harmony, and we welcome Clarke kom Skaikru... legendary Wanheda, Mountain Slayer," Lexa declares and no one dares even move. "The reason for this summit has changed. We are not here to negotiate a treaty with Skaikru, but rather to initiate them into the coalition."
Glass, who'd guessed this alongside Roan, merely presses her lips into a thin line as as the ambassadors break out into murmurs. Maybe politics isn't as bad as she thought. She's managed to predict this after all.
(With Roan's help, but whatever.)
Lexa ignores her uneasy subjects. "To symbolise this union, the leader of Skaikru must bear our mark."
Two familiar faces emerge from the crowd. Kane. Abby. Glass, of course, is concerned more with the latter, even as Kane presents himself as the leader by bearing Lexa the vulnerable flesh of his arm.
As much as she hates it, this is why Glass needs Skaikru. Abby. Batteries.
Just as Kane's flesh is seared with the mark of the coalition, the entrance door bursts open.
Lips pulling back into a snarl, Glass whirls around to face the intruders at once. This is a sacred ceremony that's being interrupted, she can hardly believe that the Spirits of the Commanders will be pleased by the sudden intrusion. Not to mention that displeasing the Spirits of the Commanders on the day of their induction does not bode well for Skaikru. And clan would dare disturb the ritual.
Which is why she is hardly surprised to see that it is in fact not a real clan, but instead Skaikru.
Guns blazing, Bellamy and Octavia explode into the room wildly. Another thing Glass should not be surprised by. They would be the kind to carelessly bring weapons into a room that only ritual blood may be spilt upon. The man beside them, enormous and broad shouldered with taupe skin and eyes like steel, also carries a gun and looks absolutely murderous.
"Bellamy?" Clarke's eyes widen.
"What is the meaning of this?" Fleimkepa Titus demands.
"The summits a trap!" Bellamy declares rashly, frantic eyes darting from shadow to shadow as if waiting for an attack as he marches towards Clarke. "We need to get you out of here."
"What the hell is going on?" Clarke demands Lexa, immediately on edge as she steps back.
"I don't know," says Lexa monotonously, though her whole body seems to shiver with anxiety as she abruptly stands in front of Clarke as if meaning to shield her with her entire body.
"I for one would like to know," Glass drawls, striding towards Bellamy.
His eyes harden. "You already do."
"Really?" She arches a brow. "Enlighten me, then. Because my clan did not storm this summit with weapons and break the law, you did."
"We're right about this," speaks the broad-shouldered man firmly as frigid eyes linger briefly on Glass before flickering to Kane. "The two guards you left behind are dead already. We need to go — now!"
"You can't go!" Glass blurts, before she can stop herself.
Bellamy's eyes narrow. "Why not?"
Tension ripples between them. Muscles taut, Glass wonders how many heartbeats she will have before Bellamy manages to gather enough wits to fire. Two? Three? She can hardly remember how fast bullets blast from guns. The speed had seemed otherworldly the first time she saw it.
"How did you come by this information?" Lexa's words ring with authority as they cut through the room like a blade.
Octavia, who's crouched in an offensive position, glances back at the trio. Her stance falters.
"Where the hell is Echo?"
Echo?
Oh. . . fuck.
Puzzle pieces start to slide together in her mind. The war the Queen seems hellbent on starting, her unbridled hatred for Skaikru and Wanheda. . .
"What's going on?" Bellamy is alarmed now as he looks around frantically. "Where the hell is she?"
"Bellamy," says Octavia through clenched teeth. "Maybe we were wrong about this."
"I need to know exactly what Echo said," says Glass, her mind reeling with theories and possibilities. When Bellamy faces her blankly, like he doesn't understand what she's saying, she can feel anger urged by fear coiling around her. "You need to tell me everything she said!"
"Why, Grounder?" The broad man sneers at her.
Glass is so startled by the blatant audacity that she stares at him for a moment.
Meanwhile, Bellamy hardly has anymore wits than her. He stares around the room again in disbelief. "I don't understand."
Kane takes one step forward, then another, until he's right in front of Bellamy and easing the rifle from his hands. "Stand down."
Looking like he might be going into shock, Bellamy's seemingly anaesthetised hands lift the thick strap from his neck before placing the gun wholly into Kane's hands. He leaves himself entirely weaponless and does not so much as breathe in defiance as Kane carries the weapon away.
There's a somewhat tense silence. No one seems to know what to do. And then —
"Bellamy. Bellamy. Come in... "
A distinctly female voice cackles through a small black box hanging by Bellamy's hip. Desperation cracks each syllable and Glass can just barely recall who it belongs to. Raven.
The black box splutters again. "The Grounders attacked Mount Weather."
A walkie talkie, John Murphy had called it.
But this is no time to think of him.
Unclipping the walkie talkie from his belt with a bleak and gaunt look in his eyes, Bellamy slowly but surely raises it to his mouth as if he hardly believes any of this is real. "What are you talking about?"
"It's gone," Raven whispers. "It's gone. They're all gone. Sinclair and I are the only ones left."
If Grounders attacked Mount Weather. . . how was Skaikru hurt?
"I'm so sorry," her voice is barely audible.
Bellamy's entire body is trembling. Whether it is with rage or despair, Glass does not know.
"I'm so sorry."
"You should've never moved your people back into Mount Weather!" A warrior, Trishanakru, Glass thinks, spits as his voice rises above the rest. "The Ice Nation did what Lexa was too weak to do!"
Lexa's mouth curls into a snarl. "This is an act of war!"
Hairs on the back of her neck prickling, Glass opens her mouth but to do what, she isn't sure. Howl or argue or scream or vomit. But there is no argument — this is an act of war. She'd been right.
The Queen would not wait. She would not sit quietly, a meek and obedient servant, not when she was not in command. She will let nothing stand in between her and power.
She doesn't seem to care what it will cost them all.
"Sentries, arrest the Ice Nation delegates!" Lexa cries out in a furious roar.
Somewhere in the midst of the chaos, her eyes meet Glass's. They are frigid as grey stone, a hurricane of rage brewing deep within them. A direct act of war. . . spilled blood. . . these are all things the Commander cannot overlook, and so Glass predicts the Commander of the Blood's condemnation before it even passes her holy lips.
"Arrest the Ice Nation princess."
⚔️
not thrilled w/this chapter, but also i do not hate it. it is pretty much filler tho. Everything's slowly building to this one good scene i have planned out that i believe takes place right before Murphy comes back. So it will all start getting better by the time we're on episode 4, which I think will be split into two chapters.
So don't worry besties, I'll do better!!!!
ALSO
I uploaded a Bellamy book, if anyone's interested. I'm actually enjoying writing it a LOT more than I expected. So check it out if ur interested!
I worked hard on trying to make the oc as different from Glass as I could, tho. So look out for that.
(Also, it's 2 am Friday right now and i think that means Wanda Vision episode 6 is dropping in an hour... i am EXCITED!!!!)
OK, that is all. Good night besties!!!