Zion is a conscientious guide, warning the group well in advance of any natural hazards – or unnatural ones. Lexa is unsure if it's loyalty or fear that causes him to send his gonas ahead to warn every town they go by that Heda is passing, but he does ensure there are no threats there before they arrive. For the first two days, he even organises places inside for the Skaikru to sleep.
"Stop it," Raven tells Lexa flatly on the next day. "We don't need to sleep inside."
"You are finding the journey difficult," Lexa observes.
"I'm pretty tough," Raven says. "We are all. Sleeping on the ground will suck, sure. But all the others looking at us with a mixture of we-hate-your-guts and you-poor-weaklings in their eyes... that is sucking more."
Lexa blinks. "Point taken." She quietly takes Zion aside and gets him to stop organising places for the Skaikru to sleep. She wonders if due to her liking of them, she has been treating them better than her own – but then, if civilians of her own people travelled with the gonakru, she believes she would be doing the same for them. After all, citizens cannot be expected to be as tough as gonas.
The Ark is due to fall in the north-east part of the Azgeda territories. Bellamy reports Sinclair has been unable to narrow it down much, and that he can't say which stations will fall in which directions. They are leaving something called the Government and Science Station up in orbit, along with a couple more that are deemed unsafe, while sending down the rest. Lexa recognises the name of Farm Station – where Pike will come down – and Alpha Station – where Abby will no doubt come down – but the rest make a confusing list of functions. Prison Station makes sense, but what of Factory Station, Mecha Station, Tesla Station? And Clarke assures her that Arrow Station has nothing to do with arrows at all. Most nonsensical.
They are leaving all prisoners alive, Clarke tells her, because they no longer need to sacrifice people to have enough supplies if they are to fall to the ground. Lexa considers this just as illogical – the people are every bit as criminal as they were before. Sky People are not consistent, and it is one of the things she has always found most concerning about them. It is one thing to change a rule, quite another to haphazardly grant forgiveness sometimes and condemn at others – the people of the twelve clans appreciate consistency.
Right now, they are passing as near to Nia's capital as they will in the journey, and it is making Lexa tense. As a result, she is calming herself by surrounding herself with people. Normally only Clarke would calm her, but having her Skaikru friends around makes Clarke happy, and this makes Lexa happy in turn. So her tent is filled with Skaikru, lit and warmed by the candles Lexa brought. Octavia is not there, still apparently immersing herself in life as a Seken – Lexa saw her and Lincoln playing a dice game of some kind with the Azgeda Sekens. Octavia appeared to be losing badly.
As Finn is also doing at the moment.
"This game is the most boring thing ever," Raven announces, splayed on her side, squinting at the chessboard.
"Too complicated for you?" Wells says teasingly. He's seated next to her, sewing a tear in the front of his light brown shirt with surprisingly quick, clever fingers.
"Too simple, Chancellor of the Nerds," she lobbies back. "Not enough moving parts. Once you've fixed a space station most games are a little too straightforward for ya. I keep expecting them to be able to move in three dimensions."
"And yet you're still better than me, Rae," Finn says mournfully, staring at the board. "If I claim I'm just losing because I'm scared of the Commander, will anyone believe me?"
"I believe you," Lexa assures him. Then she pauses. "Well, I believe you fear me, at least."
Raven cackles and then ducks the knight Finn throws at her. "But seriously," she says, "You couldn't have brought Twister? Twister would be fun." She picks up the knight and hands it to Lexa casually.
Lexa is still unsure what she thinks of these Skaikru's lack of real fear for her. Raven, Wells, even Finn – they don't have the dread of the Commander that people of the twelve clans are brought up to have, and they have not developed it. Perhaps it's seeing her and Clarke together, knowing she and Clarke are in a relationship. Maybe it's that in the beginning Lexa tried not to appear intimidating. Or it could be the large amount of time they've spent with her – normally only Gustus, Titus, the Natblidas and Anya (when she's nearby) spend any time with her that could be considered social. This is... new. Strange. Not necessarily bad, though.
"Chess is a game of strategy," Wells informs her loftily.
"Twister's a game of flexibility," Clarke counters. "Just as useful." There's a little pause where Clarke realises what she said, and everyone else realises what she said, and then Clarke goes bright red and says, "I mean, mental flexibility! Flexibility as a person!"
"I know what'll make this interesting," Raven says. She reaches into her pack and pulls out a waterskin. She shakes it triumphantly. "Monty gave me some moonshine. He's been fermenting it for weeks."
"Oh, that's a bad idea," Clarke says immediately. "We have to walk tomorrow, guys."
"What is moon shine?" Lexa asks curiously.
"Like fayowada," Clarke explains. "Except probably not nearly as nice."
"We can bet on the games and drink when we win," Raven says cheerfully.
"Isn't it normally when you lose?" Finn says.
"I have a limited amount of moonshine, babe ," Raven informs him. A second after she reflexively uses the term of endearment, her face puckers as if she has tasted something sour, but she forces it back into a cheerful expression. "So I'm going with winners drinking." She gives Finn a grin that seems unnatural, like she's playacting, and then looks at the moonshine with something that seems less like pleasure and more like desperation.
"Alcohol's toxic, guys," Wells says flatly. "And more importantly, no one's going to side with Finn when he's playing the Commander."
"Okay, firstly, ouch, man. Secondly, you drank in TonDC that one time," Finn points out. If he notices that his niron's smile is unhappy and strained, he gives no sign of it, teasing Wells with his usual oblivious good humour.
"I didn't know it was alcohol!"
"Oh come on. By the third cup, I'm pretty sure you'd figured it out."
Wells flushes slightly and Clarke laughs. He looks over at her and smiles. "Okay, fine," he caves. "But it can't be Finn versus L – versus Heda."
"You can call me Lexa," Lexa says softly, looking at Wells. She doesn't know why she extends this offer – the only ones who normally call her Lexa are Anya and Clarke. But actually, she does know why. She plays chess against this boy and he challenges her at it. She tells him to run and climb trees when he's exhausted to train him, and he does it without complaint. He does not like violence, but he is willing to accept it, and he is never disrespectful. He is not a visionary as Clarke is, not as smart or as brave in her prejudiced eyes, but he has loyalty and heart. She likes him. She even trusts him. It is unexpected. But then, Clarke has brought many unexpected things to her life.
His flush becomes darker as he looks at her. "Lexa, then," he says, and clears his throat. "We're pretty evenly matched. Maybe if we play each other -"
"Takes too long when you guys play," Raven counters.
Eventually, after Lexa elects to simply watch, they decide to form two teams, each member to take turns playing – without discussion with the teammate. As such, Finn (the worst) and Wells (the best), play Clarke and Raven (both reasonably skilled). It is amusing to watch Finn screw up manoeuvre after manoeuvre by Wells, until Wells lets out a deep sigh every time Finn moves a piece.
When the waterskin is handed around, Lexa takes a swig. Raven raises her eyebrows in question, wondering what she makes of it. Lexa considers. "It stings, slightly," she says eventually, "But I have had far worse. A lot of the clans have drinks of their own. You should try the Desert Clan's lizard wine. It is... unforgettable."
"I bet," Raven says, making a face.
Raven and Clarke win the first game, then the second. After that Wells starts using simpler techniques, making sure it is very obvious to Finn (if to the other team as well) what he has to move each turn to continue the gambit. Then they win the next two, though Lexa suspects this has more to do with Clarke's subtle yet deliberate errors. Perhaps she does not wish to suffer through the moonshine herself, or maybe she just does not wish Raven to drink any more.
"Tiebreaker," Raven says, voice slurring slightly. She's drunk more of the moonshine than anyone else, though a small amount remains.
When it comes time for her next turn she appears to have fallen asleep. "I'll carry her back," Finn offers doubtfully, looking at her passed out form.
Clarke glances at Lexa for permission, then looks at Finn when Lexa gives her a nod. "She can stay here, Finn, it's alright."
This saves their lives.
Lexa wakes in the night when she hears a soft exhale of breath. She grabs the knife next to her and springs out of the bed, moving quickly already – the assassin, for it must be an assassin, is on his knees before her. Judging by his position, he was entering quietly and fell over Raven kom Skaikru. That is the noise she heard. Raven shifts in her sleep but doesn't wake, undoubtedly still under the effect of the moonshine.
The assassin rises, fear in his face, but it is too late as she slashes her blade at his throat , causing blood to spray across the room. He doesn't even have time to speak before he dies, clutching at his throat and gasping silently. Lexa watches the life flee his eyes with indifference.
There are two more behind him and the furthest one raises a bow, then drops it as Clarke's knife hits him in the forearm. He lets out a quiet curse and drops to his knee. The closest man steps forward and raises his sword threateningly, but he is visibly sweating and the sword shakes in his hand.
Lexa could yell for help. Even if her guards are dead, the other gonas would come and kill these two before they could breathe. But she wants one alive. She wants to know who is fool enough to try and kill her here. Is it Nia, abandoning schemes for outright murder?
Lexa takes two steps to the side and grabs her own sword, raising it in response. Clarke is already up and beside her, face dazed with sleep but rapidly gaining awareness, raising Lexa's other sword. "Looks like you were wrong about your knife throwing skills," Lexa comments quietly to Clarke, who gives her a look as if to ask whether this is the right time to be talking.
The second man moves two paces back and tries to pick up his bow again, but his hands are wet with his own blood and it slips from his grasp. With his other hand he gropes at his belt and comes up with a knife which he throws at Lexa. Lexa deflects it with her sword and it glances off her shoulder, leaving a thin black line that is such a superficial injury she barely even feels it.
She surges forward to meet the sword-wielding one with her blade, ignoring the injured one – Clarke can take care of him, she is sure. If she is in danger then Lexa will interfere. She doesn't bother with fancy techniques, slashing at his torso and forcing him to block, then block again. She slides past him when she blocks his own wild strike towards her, forcing him to turn, then goes on the offensive. He takes two steps backwards to avoid her slashing attacks and trips over Raven as the other one did, as she deliberately manoeuvred him to. She knocks the sword out of his hand easily as he lies there. He tries to twist and get up but she reverses the sword neatly and slams the hilt into the side of his head.
Clarke has used the unpredictability that comes with being largely untrained in sword fighting and managed to slash the injured man's leg. With his leg and arm injured, he tries to turn and flee from the tent. Clarke grabs the spear leaning against the side of the tent and sweeps it below him, tripping him as well, and stabs him through the heart with it from behind. He dies within moments.
They both stand there for a few seconds, gasping. "I must find some water to bring the survivor round with," Lexa says eventually. "I have a waterskin over there, I think. We will wake our gonas once we find out who he works for."
"Good plan," Clarke says, shaken but still steady. She crouches over Raven. "Raven? You okay?"
Raven yawns and turns over, "Not morning yet," she mutters, and goes back to sleep.
Lexa blinks. She and Clarke look at each other, then laugh as one.