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Octavia rolled her eyes in exasperation as she caught Clarke lifting her gaze to glance sideways at The Commander. “How much more obvious can you get…” The dark haired woman muttered under her breath spearing another lump of roasted boar onto her fork.
“Wanheda is actually being discreet by Heda’s standards.” Indra replied from her position at the young former Delinquent’s side.
“Really?” Octavia shot back, her eyebrow lifting incredulously, shifting her eyes back and forth between The Commander of the Coalition and Clarke. “I don’t see how.”
“Wanheda is able to project her true emotions at all times,” Indra answered with a minute shrug of her shoulders, “Heda must be different before the eyes of everyone.”
Octavia blinked slowly, pursing her lips as she tore her eyes away from her friend to glance at her companion and mentor. “How can you tell?” She asked. “The Commander looks pretty damn stoic to me.”
“Sha,” Indra agreed, “But there is a light in her eyes that I have not seen since… For a long time.”
“Since?” Octavia frowned and a furrow formed between her eyebrows.
“It is not my pain to share.” Indra murmured. “However, The Commander cares a great deal for Wanheda. It is why she sought her out a month ago.”
“I thought that she wanted to prevent the Ice Nation taking Wanheda’s power.” Octavia murmured movement in the corner of her eye catching her attention and drawing her gaze back to the main dais.
The Commander sat perched on the edge of her throne, her body turned towards Clarke, and a piece of meat hanging on the end of her fork as she offered it to the blonde haired woman. Octavia watched as Clarke’s mouth closed around The Commander’s fork, and waited, her eyes dark and curious, as Clarke chewed. The Commander lifted an eyebrow and the corners of her mouth twitched into a smile as she replied to whatever hushed exclamation Clarke made in response to her offering.
“That is what Heda’s advisers choose to believe.” Indra said. The woman’s voice held a note of wistful gentleness which Octavia had not heard before in all her time with Indra. “However, if that were the case, then Wanheda would have died on the eve of her arrival at Heda’s hand. No, Heda brought Wanheda here to protect her, not to take her power.”
“Oh.” Octavia swallowed hard, her chest aching in remembrance as she watched The Commander’s eyes soften and Clarke duck her head as her cheeks flushed. “It’s not just… They’re in love, aren’t they?”
Indra hummed, soft and quiet, before replying. “It is not for us to say Octavia.” She said letting words hang in the air. “It is for us to protect.”
Octavia let herself watch the way that Clarke responded to The Commander’s kindness, and the way that her shoulders loosened and her spine straightened as if the pressure of an entire world lifted off her shoulders thanks to Heda’s gentle touch. The young woman found herself smiling, thankful that someone eased the weight on Clarke’s soul, even if it were someone that would cause other ongoing issues in the future. “Sha, I can do that.”