Clarke groaned and opened her eyes. The dark insides of a room greeted her. The pain on her shoulder had subsided and her body was stiff. She tried to sit up.
"You're too ambitious," a familiar voice drawled. "You got your shoulder pierced just a few hours back."
"Lexa..." Clarke said groggily, her voice hoarse.
Lexa walked into Clarke's line of sight. "How are you feeling?"
"Peachy" Clarke joked feebly.
Lexa sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked worn out and tired, face clear of any paint, and Clarke thought she looked beautiful.
"You have such perfect cheekbones Lex," Clarke giggled.
Lexa looked like she was suppressing a smile. "Looks like the healers went overboard with the morphine."
Clarke suddenly remembered the events of last afternoon. She gulped." Lexa? Artemis...is he..?"
"He'll live, if that's what you're asking," Lexa replied more curtly than she had intended to.
"Listen.. Lexa... I didn't intend for anything like that to happen..."
"So what did you intend Clarke? You almost beat a boy to death in front of the whole of Polis. Now though it has strengthened the belief that you are more than fit to protect me, I want to know what happened there," Lexa crossed her arms.
"I lost control," Clarke muttered, staring at her feet.
"I know..." Lexa said. "But what happened before that...why did you lose control?"
"Let it go, Lexa," Clarke said. The prying questions were getting to her.
"Clarke, I cannot let you take up an official post if you cannot tell me what happened today," Lexa said patiently. "You cannot afford to just lose control like that. Do you understand the implications of that?"
"So what are you going to do? Fire me?" Clarke challenged her.
Lexa sighed. "Please don't be difficult Clarke."
"I am being difficult!" Clarke exploded. "Are you really going to give me that crap? After you were cosying up with Costia! Her hands were all over you."
Lexa took a moment to register Clarke's allegations as realisation dawned on her." So that's why you got distracted. You don't want her near me."
"You know, for the Commander, you are really thick sometimes," Clarke rolled her eyes at Lexa. "Of course I don't want her or anyone else all over you." She narrowed her eyes.
Lexa's lips pursed up in a small smile. "I will keep that in mind, hodness."
"Did you just call me hotness?" Clarke narrowed her eyes. "You got some nerves, woman!"
"No. Hodness."
"Exactly!"
"No, Clarke, hodness. Love. You need to brush up your trigedasleng."
"Oh," Clarke replied, embarrassed, and recovered the very next second. "Go teach it to your wife."
Lexa laughed,"If you say so."
"Don't you dare Alexandra," Clarke warned her playfully, and pulled Lexa closer by the strap of her armour.
"Are you daring me, Clarke Griffin?" Lexa smirked.
"You won't accept the dare, would you now, Commander?" Clarke said, raising her eyebrows at Lexa.
"Wouldn't think of it," Lexa whispered in a voice that sent shine down Clarke's spine.
Clarke grabbed the back of Lexa's head and pulled her in for a hungry kiss. She realised how much she had missed this, as Lexa's lips melted into hers, and Lexa pulled her closer. Clarke wrapped her uninjured arm around Lexa's neck and tried to take in as much of the other girl's body as possible. Her fingers etched along the length of Lexa's tattoo on the neck, and she craved to touch the rest of it. She had always been fascinated by Lexa's intricate tattoos. Lexa's finger wove into Clarke's hair and she started pushing Clarke down on the bed.
"Ahem."
Both the girls broke apart, startled.
"Mom!"
"Yes Clarke. Nice to know you can recognize your mother," Abby looked at the pair pointedly.
"How dare you barge in without permission?" Lexa narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"She's my patient, Commander. And as her doctor, I came to advise her to be under complete bed rest, not...you know..." Abby replied curtly.
"I'm fine mom. You don't have to be suddenly concerned about me." Clarke said.
"Well then, why doesn't the Commander tell me why she's here with my daughter and not her fiance who's waiting for her at the meeting room?" Abby replied as she got busy with Clarke's charts.
Lexa looked like she had been slapped across her face.
"It's none of your business, Abigail" Lexa said, much less convincingly than she had intended. "Don't you dare question the Commander."
"I won't anymore. You're both adults." Abby sighed. "I just hope you are able to silence all your subjects just as convincingly as well. They're already questioning where you've been all day, and Clarke's bedside is hardly the most convincing answer."
Lexa stood up."I wish to carry on this conversation with you at a better time, healer Griffin."
She turned to Clarke. "Indra and Luna will help you prepare for tonight's ceremony, Clarke."
And with that, Lexa was out of the room.
Clarke glared at her mother. "And you have to ruin even the last bits of happiness I have left, don't you?"
Abby sighed. She walked over to Clarke's bed and sat down."I love you Clarke. You are my daughter. And you know that whatever happened wasn't my intention. I didn't know that you liked Lexa..."
"So why do you have to behave like that with her mom?"
"Because I am concerned about you, Clarke. What do you think will happen to you if the Jahas or that Flamekeeper gets any inkling of what's going on between Lexa and you? I don't want you getting hurt, my child... You've been through enough."
"I've been through stuff you cannot even imagine, mom," Clarke said, her eyes welling up. "And Lexa is the only good I have left. She's good for me... She loves me."
"Lexa might be a good person, Clarke, but the Commander is not." Abby shook her head. "I don't want to see you getting hurt again. If she did love you that much, she would never have agreed to the marriage in the first place."
"She had no choice," Clarke said. "I would probably have done the same in her place. I was going to kill her to save my friends, even when I was already in love with her."
Clarke looked down, tears staining the bedsheet.
Abby hugged Clarke.
"It'll be alright, my child...It'll be alright."
"No it won't, mom," Clarke sobbed, hugging her mother tight. "Nothing will ever be right. I love her, mom. I love Lexa, and this hurts. It hurts so bad."
For the first time in her life, Abigail Griffin felt like she had let her daughter down.
***
Luna finished applying the final layer of the Warpaint on Clarke, moved back, and looked at her handiwork.
"Em laik gona," Indra muttered.
"What?"
"She says you look like a warrior, Clarke." Luna smiled. "The Warpaint suits you."
"Umm mochof Luna."
"Don't have to impress me with you language skills." Luna laughed.
Clarke smiled.
"Do you remember your lines, girl?" Indra asked.
Clarke nodded nervously, and stood up.
"You will do good." Indra said and walked out of the room.
Clarke looked at Luna. "Was it me, or did Indra just complement me?"
"Looks like you really grow on people," Luna said. "Good luck Clarke. You'll do well."
***
As the doors of the throne room swung open, the sound of the Grounder anthem hit Clarke's ears. She walked into the room, with the beats of the majestic music.
She walked in, and looked straight at Lexa, standing at the head of the room, in front of her throne.
As she walked in, in full battle attire, Lexa felt her breath hitch in her throat. Clarke looked like a goddess walking down the aisle. She felt her lips curve up into a smile, and marvelled at the woman walking towards her. Clarke would always have her heart and soul. And now she wouldn't think twice before putting her life in her hands.
Clarke walked down the length of the aisle and came to a halt before Lexa. She withdrew her sword from its hilt, and got down on one knee. She placed the sword before Lexa's feet. She looked straight into Lexa's eyes and said what she had rehearsed so many time before.
"My sword is yours. My life is yours. My heart is yours. Ai badan yu op en nou moun. I serve you and no other, Heda Lexa kom Trikru. Do you accept my service as your personal swordswoman?"
"I do," Lexa smiled. "Clarke Griffin, you knelt before me as NouKru, and now you shall rise as the Protector of the Realm, the Commander's Guard."
Lexa picked up the sword and handed it over to Clarke." Do you promise to stand by your Heda?"
"I do."
As the crowd bowed down and Clarke stood up, to face Lexa, she knew that Lexa had given her so much more than she would ever give Costia. She felt no anger or resentment left at Lexa. Lexa had decided to treat Clarke not as her partner, but as her equal, and that meant the world to Clarke Griffin.
---
A/n: There you go. Plenty of Clexa floof. And one of my favourite clexa scenes. The Lexa bowing scene is coming soon, too. Hope you enjoyed it. Keep me posted.
Love,
Charlie.