Chapter Text
It was a quiet day in Polis. Despite Lexa hating mornings, all of her meetings were held before lunch leaving her the afternoon free. Her new Fleimkappa, Loa, had taken the nightbloods on a meditative hike, meaning she could not hold an impromptu training session with them. Clarke was working at the new clinic she set up in Polis with the other healers, and Lexa did not want to disturb her.
Lexa was sitting lazily on her throne sharpening her knife when her guards came bursting through the doors. “ The King of Azgeda is here to see you. He brings with him a young girl. He claims she is a nightblood .”
This peaked Lexa’s interest and she sat up in her throne. “ Bring them in at once .”
King Roan walked in with a young girl behind him. The girl's hands were bound in front of her. Lexa immediately realized she had seen the girl with Roan’s mother, the former queen of Azgeda. This was the nightblood Clarke encountered last year.
“ Commander, thank you for seeing me on such short notice. ” Roan bowed his head at Lexa and continued. “ I have finally captured this nightblood. Her name is Ontari, and she will greatly benefit from your guidance .”
“ Come forward, child .” Lexa said as she rose from her throne.
Ontari refused to step forward, and turned around to leave. Roan pulled her back by the collar of her shirt. “ Is that how we act around the Commander ?” Roan questioned her.
“ She is not the Commander, I am! ” Ontari shouted.
Roan ignored the comment made by the girl. “ Commander, she is your’s now. Do with her as you please. I apologize in advance for any trouble she gives you .” He bowed again and left the room.
Lexa was still standing in front of her throne. She looked at the small girl Roan had left in her care. She could not have been older than sixteen, but was still older than most of the nightbloods.
“ Bring in Anya .” Lexa told her guards, and then directed her attention the angry girl. “Ontari, how old are you?”
“I have seen 17 winters. Aren’t you a little old to still be the Commander?” Ontari spat at Lexa.
The girl was older than Lexa had initially thought. She responded, “No, it just means my fight is not over yet. I see you speak gonasleng pretty well.”
After a few minute of intense staring between the two, Anya walked into the throne room. “Anya, meet our newest nightblood, Ontari. She is from Azgeda,” Lexa greeted her mentor.
Anya looked at the girl. “ Isn’t she a little old to be a nightblood? ”
Ontari growled and hurled herself at the general. Anya was able to stop the girl. “ Child, isn’t it going to be hard to fight with your arms tied up? ” She turned back to Lexa. “ Why do you need me, Commander ?”
“ As you can tell, Ontari is older than most of the nightbloods. I think she will benefit from one on one training. You helped me out when I was young and wild. Are you willing to help, General? ”
Anya thought for a moment. Did she really want to train another future commander? She did see potential in the new nightblood. “ Yes, I will help. I expect to see her tomorrow morning at dawn for our first session. Please send extra guards. She’ll be a fighter. ” Anya finished her thought and left the throne room.
Lexa turned to Ontari. “I will have a guard show you to your room. There will be extra guards posted outside the doors to make sure you do not escape. I am also keeping you away from the other nightbloods until I feel like I can trust you to not kill them. Guards, can one of you bring Ontari to her room? Once she is there untie her hands. ”
A young guard stepped forward. “ Follow me, Ontari. Just so you know I’m a pretty good fighter myself, and if you make one wrong move I will not hesitate to kill you .” Ontari gave her a huff and followed the guard out of the throne room leaving Lexa alone again. She sat back down in her throne and went back to sharpening her knife. What was she going to do with this new girl? She looked at Clarke’s throne. Clarke would know what to do.
***
Clarke entered her and Lexa’s room in Polis tower just as the sun was setting. She had returned home later than planned, but just in time for dinner. An emergency birth had delayed her on her journey home. The small table in the corner was already set for dinner with candles around it to provide plenty of light. Lexa was sitting in an arm chair in the center of the room reading her book. The moment she heard Clarke enter she got up to greet her girlfriend.
“How was your day?” She asked before kissing the blonde.
“It was fine.” Clarke said, breaking the kiss “You know, the usual. Broken bones, stitches, stomach bugs. I did deliver the baker’s baby tonight.”
“I thought she wasn't due for another week.”
“I guess the baby wanted to make an early appearance.”
Lexa laughed at that comment, took Clarke’s hand in hers, and led Clarke to the dinner table. The servants had brought up the food a couple minutes before Clarke’s arrival, allowing the food time to cool down.
“How was your day, Commander?” Clarke asked in between bites of food. She had not eaten since that morning.
Lexa took a sip of her wine before recanting the detail of her day. “Interesting, to say the least. My meetings were done by lunch leaving me the afternoon to myself. King Roan came to visit me.”
“That can’t be good.” Clarke chuckled.
Lexa sighed. She knew about Clarke’s distaste for the King of Azgeda. “He brought me a gift.”
“What does that mean?” Clarke was starting to get worried.
“Remember that nightblood you had the unfortunate encounter with, Ontari? Well, he brought her to me to be trained. She is a wild one that girl.” Lexa took another sip from her drink as Clarke stared at her in shock.
“I thought she ran off after Nia’s death. I figured she died in the wild.”
“She did run off, but Roan was able to track her down and bring her here.”
“What are you going to do with her? Isn’t she older than your other nightbloods?” Clarke asked.
“I was actually going to ask for your opinion. I have her separated from the others, and she is receiving private training with Anya in hopes of taming her.”
Clarke gave Lexa a bewildered look. “You want my opinion on what to do with that girl? I can barely take care of myself sometimes! You’re lucky I'm not responsible for cooking dinner.” Clarke let out a sigh and continued. “Honestly, I think she is a lost cause.”
Lexa nodded, but did not agree with Clarke. “I don’t want to give up on her. I think she has potential.”
Clarke knew what Lexa meant. She saw that Ontari had the potential to be the next Commander. “Are we really talking about your death again? I would like to have a nice meal without talking about it.”
“It can’t be a meal if I don’t mention it.” Lexa joked. She looked up from her meal and smiled at Clarke. Clarke could not stay mad at the green-eyed girl and started to giggle. The couple continued their meal in silence enjoying each other's presence.