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Chapter Text

Again, it is as Clarke claims, and Lexa finds herself wondering if Clarke only knows intimately the way in which the people and the world around her work.

The Sky People, and even Clarke herself do all they can to protect Finn. While Lexa allows Indra to take the matter into her own hands – it was her village who suffered at the murderer’s hands after all - one of Lexa’s men tell her it is the seer herself who sneaks away with Finn into the forest. Even the other leader of the Sky People makes clear her intention to protect this killer, but at the end of the day, he proves himself to be not quite so selfish after all and gives himself up for the safety of his people.

After the sunlight has fallen, as Lexa straps her sword to her waist and finishes preparing herself for the grim spectacle ahead, she hears, “Let me through.”

When she steps out of the war tent, it is to see Clarke facing off with Indra once more. There is a small blotch of blood blooming around the tip of Indra’s spear, which pokes neatly at the blonde's stomach. Beyond her, at the base of the hill, both the Sky People and the villagers which had gathered for aftaimgeta’s guidance stand witness to the scene. Their collective silence hangs heavy in the air.

“Let her pass,” Lexa allows, and Indra does, though her sneer says she would rather finish the job. As Clarke approaches, Lexa can see only desperation in her eyes. “You bleed for nothing. You cannot stop this.”

"I know,” comes the response. Yet again, she looks so solemn, and Lexa finds herself wondering how she can stand so strong here before her with such despair written on her face. “But maybe you can.”

There is a commotion as the murderer is brought forward for his reckoning. Lexa’s warriors strap him to the post erected solely for his suffering, and she watches Clarke’s expression convulse with horror, as if all of her worst nightmares are coming true in this moment.

“Show our people how powerful you are,” she begs, and Lexa does not miss the way she includes their peoples together as one. “Show them you can be merciful. Show them you can change fate itself.”

“Fate cannot be changed.” Shouldn’t she of all people know this? “Blood must have blood.”

“No!” Clarke laments. “Jus no drein jus daun! Can’t you see it, Leksa? This never had to be our way! I’m the one who will be soaked in blood!”

But Lexa can only shake her head, not understanding what it is that Clarke sees beyond this dark night. “But this is our way, Clarke. Finn is guilty.”

“He did it for me!” Clarke’s hands shoot up to her face with jagged fingers, as if with the intention to rip her own eyes from her skull. “I know he did it for me!”

Lexa swallows hard. Justice must be served, despite this woman falling apart before her. “Then he dies for you.”

 Clarke’s nails dig into her skin. Her eyelids are fluttering, and Lexa can all but see images flashing behind her expression. For a very long, long moment, there is only horror and madness evident in those gritted teeth and widened eyes. Lexa thinks she may have just turned this woman to insanity. But then, Clarke finally – slowly – lowers her hands back down to her sides. Now there seems to be nothing left in her but hopelessness. “So it is,” she whispers, so only the two of them can hear it. She meets Lexa’s gaze with tears in her eyes. “Please let me say goodbye, Lexa.”

Lexa pauses, considering that. Really, she should say no, but Clarke had said it herself – Finn will die on this hill, despite any of her own attempts to make it otherwise. There really is nothing the blonde can do at this point to stop what is going to happen to him. If she had known what Azgeda would do to Costia, she wonders, would she have asked for the same mercy? So she nods, and lets Clarke say her goodbyes to the boy she seems to care for so greatly, somehow despite knowing his fate.

Clarke does not run. She walks with slow, measured steps to Finn, almost as if to delay what she knows is coming. When she reaches him, she wraps him in a desperate embrace and pulls him into a kiss. She seems to care not that hundreds of eyes watch her, or that there are dozens around who can hear her. Lexa can only barely hear their conversation, but she can hear it all the same.

“I love you too.”

“I’m scared,” is all that Finn can seem to say. “I didn’t see anything when you kissed me, Clarke. This is it, isn’t it?”

“It’ll be okay,” Clarke sobs, hugging him once more. “You’re gonna be okay.”

As they embrace, Finn says something else in Clarke’s ear, too quiet for Lexa to hear. He rests his head on her shoulder and lets her hold him for a long moment. Then, Clarke steps away, a small, bloody knife in her hand. As she turns away from Finn, Lexa sees the large blood stain spreading across the front of his shirt. She sees the way his head and body sag, the way his chest is unmoving, ands she knows that it is as Clarke had said. Finn has died upon this hill.

Is it Clarke who spins fate to her will?

Finn is dead, as Clarke vowed he would be, and Lexa instructs the skaiheda to choose her attendance. She does, and her assembly totals at less than a dozen.

Yet, as they trek to Tondc in order to join murderer and murdered in fire, that number seems to multiply until there are nearly a hundred kyongeda men, woman, and children marching behind them. The Sky People walk with their wagon up front, Lexa’s guard riding after them, and the crowd bringing up the rear. Lexa’s guard seems uneasy stuck between the two, but the people seem to be keeping their distance… for now.

“I do not like this,” Gustus grunts, glancing over his shoulder at the congregation of civilians crammed far back onto the path behind them. “We are an easy target like this. They are so bewitched by this aftaimgeta, to the point of lunacy.”

The crowd makes her nervous, too. But she would be lying if she said she wasn’t expecting it. “Don’t worry so much, Gustus. Before we began our march I ordered extra warriors to border us,” she replies coolly. She had chosen to rally fighters from trikru in particular. They know the area well, and are adept at moving quickly through the forest while watching for signs of trouble.

Gustus turns back around in his saddle. “This alliance is too risky, heda. These Sky People are more like the Mountain Men that us, and aftaimgeta makes our own people forget their place.”

Lexa glances back at the crowd following behind them, then considers Clarke’s back as she talks with the tall dark-haired man named Bellamy, who seems to be one of her closest attendants. “I understand your concerns, Gustus,” she admits. Indeed, this whole experience with the soothsayer skaiheda has been beyond anything she could have predicted when she began marching with her army. “But it’s as you’ve always told me. All alliances are risky. This is for the good of the Coalition, for the chance to free our people of the shadow of maunon.”

“This could kill the Coalition,” Gustus tells her.

“The Coalition, or me?”

“You are the Coalition, heda,” he insists.

Lexa pauses. “Then do your job and protect me.”

It is late morning by the time they finally arrive in Tondc.

There are many cheers of heda! as Lexa dismounts her horse and approaches the gate with her guards. As she does, those trikru warriors who Lexa has commanded to watch their borders begin to emerge from the trees. The Sky People look about uneasily upon realizing their numbers far outweighed their own that entire way. Lexa commands her accompanying warriors to keep the crowd behind them outside of the walls, lest this tense visit turn to chaos.

After the Sky People disarm, the gates of Tondc open, and Lexa leads the smaller congregation through. The calls from those standing on the walls of Tondc turn to confusion at the crowd behind them, then to anger as they sight the Sky People. They’ve only made it a dozen yards inside before they are confronted by a  ragged man with long dark hair.

“Skaikru don jak eting op kom ai,” he tells them, and Lexa feels her gut twist at the sorrow and loss in his words. “Ai houmon, ai yongon…”

“Step of,” Gustus warns.

But the man only shakes his head. “Ripa nou gou teik in hir.”

Lexa swallows hard. Despite his sorrow, she cannot afford to let her people doubt her actions now. Sometimes, examples must be made. She looks to Gustus and gives him a permissive nod, but before he can move, Clarke steps past him to approach the man.

“Sindri,” she greets, holding up her hands in a show of peace. The clearing suddenly goes very quiet. “Fiya in bilaik oyu blodon, ba raitnes don huk op.”

“What the hell?” Bellamy mutters a few feet behind them. “When did she learn how to do that?”

Sindri pales in response to Clarke’s words. “Ha dula yu get ai, ripa?”

“Ai laik Klark kom skaikru, aftaimgeta,” Clarke replies. “Ai nou na rez op oyu niron, ba yu bro Orling kik raun tiya Maun. Beja, teik oso sis kep em in.”

“Lincoln,” Octavia murmurs. “I can’t keep up. What is she saying?”

“His wife and child were killed by Sky People, but she tells him justice has been served,” Lincoln translates quietly for the Sky People still standing witness behind them. “She speaks his name, the name of his brother, and asks him to let us help get him out of the Mountain.”

“Aftaimgeta?" Sindri utters in recognition. Lexa wonders just how far Clarke’s legend has already reached. “Orling kik raun? Em mebi kep in?”

Clarke nods. “Em na kep in.” She holds out a hand to him with a gentle smile. “Teik ai tich yu op.”

“She says his brother will be saved,” Lincoln mutters, almost to himself. “She wants to show him.” Out of the corner of her eye, Lexa sees him look to Octavia. “She can do that?”

Tentatively, Sindri reaches out to take Clarke’s hand. The moment their fingers touch, his eyelids flutter, in much the same way Clarke’s did when she and Lexa first met. After a long moment, he steps away, tears streaming down his face. “Orling…!” He drops to his knees before Clarke, hands clasped together as if in prayer. “Mochof, aftaimgeta, mochof!”

It is such a juxtaposition to his attitude mere moments ago that Lexa can hardly believe what she’s seeing.  But Clarke only smiles once more and shakes her head. “Yu na chof ai kom teik sis oso au.”

“Thank me by letting us help,” Octavia translates, shaking her head with wonder. "Damn, Clarke’s got game.”

Not quite the words she would have used, but Lexa can’t help but agree. A glance about the clearing reveals a ring of reverent faces. Though the Sky People may have needed a translation, she knows her own people heard every word. While many of them and Lexa herself may doubt Clarke’s abilities, it is hard to deny the sudden shift in Sindri’s attitude, or the relief and happiness evident in his face, so opposite to his hatred mere moments ago. Even so, Lexa can still see so many expressions of fury and distrust. As Clarke helps Sindri to his feet, Lexa steps forward.

“The Sky People march with us now,” she announces. "We build this alliance to save our people from the Mountain Men. Make no mistake, anyone who tries to break it will pay with their life.”

The faces of her warriors around the clearing show that they understand her, despite her not setting an example. Satisfied, she turns to continue further into Tondc, but stops short when she sees Clarke now turned towards her, a horrified look on her face. She is not looking at Lexa, but instead staring at Gustus. He shifts uneasily at Lexa’s side.

Lexa frowns. "Clarke?"

But Clarke only turns away from her, as she so often seems to. "Jus no drien jus daun, Leksa," she says, voice full of sorrow. She tilts her head back to look up at the sky that she and her sight fell from. "As if fate would ever let me protect you."