"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." – Act III, Scene I of King Henry IV (William Shakespeare)
May 2040
The first rays of sunlight bathed the rooftops of Polis as a little girl with brown braids stormed into her parents' bedroom.
"Numon! Nontu!" she shrieked excitedly and jumped onto the bed, jostling her sleepy parents. "Today is the day. Come on, get up!"
"Good morning, yongon," murmured her mother, taking Lexa in her arms.
Lexa squirmed loose. "Get up! You guys promised. You said we'd go to the ceremony."
Lexa's father grumbled tiredly to himself and then slowly rose from the shared bed. "Well, go get dressed, Leksa."
Lexa stormed out and disappeared into her room.
"Isaiah." She held his arm when he didn't respond. "Do you really think this is a good idea? There will be so many people there. What if she gets hurt?" Her eyes anxiously searched his, trying to make out what he was thinking.
"Nothing will happen, Farrah. Leksa deserves to be part of our traditions, to know our people. We can't always just hide her because of her blood," he spoke reassuringly, but not without doubt in his eyes. "And if something does happen, I will protect her with my life."
Lexa, meanwhile, came back from her room fully dressed. "I'm ready!" beamed the 10-year-old.
"Put your gloves on, Lexa. In case you hurt yourself," her mother called out to her as she got dressed.
"Sha, nomon," muttered Lexa, rolling her eyes.
A little later, the three of them came upon a completely crowded street. People from all eleven clans were milling around in front of the entrance to the large arena. Flags were waved and market criers advertised their food.
"Stay close to me, Lexa," said Farrah loudly, trying to drown out the noise of the street.
Lexa's eyes darted over all the interesting things to see. Incessantly, her thoughts circled around the presentation of the Natblida. Lexa would like to be a warrior, too. True, her parents had taught her since she was two years old how to defend herself if one of the Fleimkepa ever tried to kidnap her. But Lexa still probably couldn't win a fight. She really wanted to see the other Natblida. They were just like her, but no one could ever know that.
Lexa turned to her parents and stopped, so that they were now standing like a rock in the middle of a wild herd at full gallop. "Hod op," she spoke with a serious look. "Mochof. Thank you for always protecting me."
Isaiah lovingly put a hand to Lexa's cheek. "Yu laik osir sonraun."
Lexa gave her parents a quick smile and then pulled them along. Slowly, the family joined the queue at the entrance, where all visitors were checked for weapons.
Ahead of them, a young Azgeda warrior was turned away for refusing to surrender his sword. Farrah and Isaiah exchanged a cursory glance. Azgeda was basically unwelcome in Polis, which was currently ruled by a Trikru commander. The enmity between Trikru and Azgeda had existed since Praimfaya and would probably never end.
The people slid up and finally entered the grandstand of the great fighting arena. Seats were arranged in five raised rows around the arena and every one of these seats was now occupied. Right next to the arena there were also one hundred standing places, which offered a particularly good view into the action.
The people of the earth were more than excited, because this event only happened every ten years or so. So now, years before the conclave, the Natblida were presented to the people in a battle. The Natblida entered the arena one by one, accompanied by resounding applause. Each one's name, clan, age, fighting skills and goals as a possible heda were presented. This gave the people the opportunity to get to know and love their soon to be leader.
As Lexa looked around, she noticed the beauty of the place. Garlands hung from the open ceiling of the arena and candles were everywhere, bathing the place in a holy light. From her seats high up in the arena, the brown-haired girl also had a good view of her hometown. The streets seemed deserted because almost everyone was in the arena today to witness this special event. She paused for a moment and let the morning sunlight shine on her smiling face with her eyes closed.
As Lexa looked into the arena, she saw the eight Natblida enter one by one. First Espen, a Trikru novice, then Cyra, Jax, Regan, Bela, the twins Silas and Luna, and at last Costia. Each of them bowed to the Fleimkepa, who stood in the middle, and then to the audience. The Fleimkepa was a tall balding man with a striking tattoo on his head, who wore a long dark robe. Cold and emotionless, staring straight ahead, he raised his voice.
"Natblida, it is time for you to show the clans what you have learned so far. Fight with honour."
"Sha, seda Titus," the Natblida spoke dutifully in chorus.
"I have to see this. Beja!" Lexa pleaded with her parents, who gave her a hesitant nod. Immediately she ran down the bleachers to the standing room and pushed past the people in front of her, so that now only a low fence and a few metres of height separated her from the Natblida in the arena.
Shortly after, the duels began, started by Jax and Bela, both of Sangedakru. They moved in perfect harmony with each other. It seemed as if they could react to each other's moves before they were even made. Finally, Jax, a little boy with black hair that reached his chin and a mischievous grin on his face, won. Next, Luna and Costia stepped into the centre of the arena, having previously watched from the sidelines with the other Natblida. Luna had long brown-red curls that bounced impressively on her shoulders. She swung her sword in victory before the fight even began. The Fleimkepa held Luna by the arm and whispered something threateningly to her that Lexa could not hear. Luna, however, only rolled her eyes in annoyance and assumed a challenging fighting pose.
Now, for the first time, Lexa looked at Luna's counterpart, Costia. She radiated an incredible calm. Her face showed no emotion and she did not respond to Luna's attempts to distract her. Bright strands of hair hung in her face from a seemingly elaborate braided hairstyle and her eyes darkened as she also slowly assumed a fighting pose.
Costia had always held back until now. She was well aware of her own strength and abilities, though she tried to fight as little seriously as possible. She had to stay strong for Azgeda and survive as long as possible. But Luna upset her. She couldn't stand this girl. Lost in thought, she didn't notice how Luna came closer to her and finally attacked. Costia hissed in fright, for Titus had not yet allowed them to begin.
While Luna was doing her first blows, Titus just grumbled exasperatedly "Be the last one." and then stepped to the edge of the arena to have a good view of the action.
Both girls carried short, flat swords, their clangs dulled to prevent the novices from seriously injuring themselves. Luna struck specifically at Costia's sword. The latter parried every blow, but was still pushed back. The steady sword strokes filled the air and the coordinated movements the children made as they fought almost looked like a deadly dance.
When Costia came too close to the edge of the arena, right below the position Lexa was standing at, she made a quick leap to the side and was able to narrowly avoid a blow. In doing so, however, Costia fell over a leg that Luna had placed for her.
Costia found herself on the ground. She had dropped her sword to cushion herself better from the fall and it was now out of her reach. Desperate, she crawled back a few metres to reach her sword. She didn't take her eyes off Luna, who was now coming towards her with an arrogant grin. Luna let her sword circle impressively fast in one hand. She was now only a few steps away from Costia.
As soon as Costia felt the cloth-bound hilt of her sword in her hand, she jumped up, panting. She had had enough. Controlled, she slammed her sword against Luna's, completing several skillful spins and dodges. Luna's grin disappeared and she broke into a sweat. She had underestimated Costia and wasted too much of her energy already at the beginning of the fight.
Finally, Costia managed to throw Luna off her game with a faked attack, so that she misplaced her steps and offered Costia an open attack surface with her new position. With a well-aimed kick to Luna's hip area, she brought her down.
"Daun ste pleni!" shouted Titus loudly as Costia lunged for another swinging kick in the heat of the moment.
Costia puffed in frustration, but decided to stop fussing and play along. Friendly, she walked up to Luna and offered her a hand. "May I help you up?" asked Costia, playing genteel and wiggling her eyebrows in amusement.
Luna, however, only spat contemptuously on the ground beside her and got back up on her own. "Damn Azgeda!" she growled angrily as she bumped into Costia as she passed.
"Luna!" shouted Titus irritably after her, but still had to watch her run to the edge of the arena.
Costia, meanwhile, was being celebrated by the other Natblida. So far, hardly anyone had managed to defeat Luna. As Costia let her gaze wander over the arena, she noticed a pair of green eyes shining through the light of the rising sun.
The eye contact with Costia was so bewildering to Lexa that she could not hold on as chaos suddenly erupted behind her and she fell down through the fence and into the arena. She cried out in pain as she landed on the uneven, cracked ground, cutting her palm despite wearing gloves. Black blood gushed out and Lexa tried desperately to stop the bleeding. Two guards came running towards her menacingly and Lexa slid back against the arena wall before being dragged up by them.
"Leksa!" her parents called after her in panic, rushing down through the crowd. "Don't hurt her!"
As the Natblida's guards dragged Lexa away by her hands, one of them noticed black blood seeping through Lexa's glove. Perplexed, they both stopped and looked at the bloody glove for a moment before ripping it off her hand and exposing the wound.
"Em laik natblida," one of them muttered. "Fleimkepa! Em laik natblida!"
Titus stood motionless in the middle of the arena, staring at the little girl in confusion. Then he strode up to her, looked her in the eye, and then carefully palmed her hand.
"Empty the arena. Bring me the parents. They have hidden this Natblida. This is a capital offence," spoke Titus with suppressed anger. "Kom nao!"
Then he turned back to Lexa. "Chon yu bilaik?" She hesitated with her answer. Titus went down on his knees in front of her, so he was eye-to-eye with her. "Chon yu bilaik, natblida?"
"Ai laik Leksa kom Trikru," she murmured softly. Uncertainly, she looked around for her parents, but could not discover them.
Titus put a hand to her cheek, as her father had done only an hour before. "Monin, Leksa. Ai laik Titus, yu seda."