Chapter Text
It all comes down to this. After everything that has happened on the ground so far, hell, even before she ever made it down to the fucking ground. And of course the only thing she can smell is her. Her omega’s smell is everywhere, a cruel joke being played by her psyche just before she dies. For Clarke, it seems like the past few years have been nothing but heartbreak, pain and death. Especially death. It is all coming to an end now though. Reaching her destination with her captor is an almost welcome relief. Clarke has held the weight of the Sky People on her shoulders for too long. The price she has paid has been too high. She’s looking forward to a quick death as the heavy wooden doors open and she is shoved through them by her captor. Only able to see feet and the end of spears she surmises that she is surrounded by soldiers. The deep voice of the man who is her captor easily permeates the thin hood that he has forced over her head.
"Wanheda. Kom ai don swega klin." (Wanheda, as requested)
He forces her to her knees, the sun clearly setting in the direction she is facing. The only light Clarke has managed to see in several hours threatens to blind her, even in the captivity of her hood. As it is removed, she is almost thankful to see the face of the one who has demanded she be brought all this way. Finally the Commander of Death will be allowed to embrace the death she so deserves. Now, without her hood, the setting sun is absolutely blinding. Clarke can only make out the silhouette of a throne and a small figure seated there. Mouth gagged and abrasions covering her face, she struggles to adjust to the brightness. She can just barely make out a female figure when she hears her voice. The voice that has haunted her day and night for months. Gentle with Omega undertones yet fully in command as her title would imply. Two words. Two words are all it takes to awaken Clarke’s inner alpha. All the rage she has been working on suppressing for all these months surges forward, just beneath the surface. She holds it back, just barely, because this can’t be true. Lexa cannot be standing in front of her. Lexa cannot have the audacity to speak to her. Not after everything. Not now.
"Hello Clark."
Rage. That’s all she feels. Red hot alpha rage is coursing through her veins. It is forcing her into stillness. Still bound and gagged she isn’t free to lunge at the Omega like her heart demands. She is so full of anger that she can barely hear the rest of the conversation around her.
"The deal was for you to bring her to me unharmed."
"She didn’t come easy."
"I expect not."
"I’ve done my part, now do yours. Lift my banishment."
"I’m told your mother’s army marches on Polis."
"That has nothing to do with me. Honor our deal."
"I’ll honor our deal when your Queen honors my coalition. Lock Prince Roan of Azgeda away."
Clarke looks around her, taking stock of her current situation as Roan is dragged away by the Commander’s guards. Finally, blue eyes meet green and the rage that Wanheada feels threatens to surface.
"What of Wanheda? Demands the Commander’s advisor. Skepticism plain on his face."
"Leave us." The Omega orders. Pumping calming pheromones into the air, whether it is to try to sooth the raging Alpha on her knees before her, or to give reassurance to her advisor who is so obviously leery of Clarke’s presence before his beloved Commander, Clarke isn’t sure. He pauses, daring to defy his Commander for a fleeting moment to attempt to make her reconsider and think of her own safety. Her annoyance plain, "You heard me", she says.
Titus exits, only the Commander’s guards remain in the room with the women. "Sis em au na gyon op." (Help her up) Not daring to hesitate, the guards move to either side of Wanheda. Their size is clearly meant to intimidate but their Beta scents are lightly laced with fear in the presence of the two most powerful women in this broken world. The guards pick her up and, for the first time, Lexa speaks directly to Clarke. "I’m sorry that it had to be this way." Lexa reaches forward, her touch more gentle than it needs to be, and removes the gag from Clarke’s mouth. "I had to ensure Wanheda didn’t fall into the hands of the Ice Queen." Rage. "War is brewing Klark." The hatred that has been building is now threatening to boil over. Nothing can stop her anger. No calming pheromones can touch the animosity Clarke has for this stupid Omega. "I need you."
And then Clarke snaps. Spit surges forward before she can even think to do anything else. Stopping her assault was never in the cards for Clarke. She will do everything within her power to kill this woman in front of her. Lexa’s guards step forward and start pulling Wanheda away. With all the rage she has felt spilling over she screams, "You bitch! You wanted the Commander of Death! You’ve got her! Aghh! I’ll kill you! Aghh!"
Clarke thrashes within her confines and against the giant soldiers as she is dragged away from the throne room. She continues to scream and fight even when she knows she is well outside of earshot of the Commander. Clarke’s inner alpha is demanding violence. It demands blood and vengeance and for Lexa to finally pay for her crimes. Lexa left her on that mountain to die but what happened there was even worse. Clarke Griffin’s soul died on that mountain but her body still remains, inhabited now only by anger, death and betrayal. Clarke may have been able to cope with committing genocide but that isn’t what weighs heaviest on her now. She was forced to do that. It was her people or the Mountain Men and Clarke knows now that that was the way it had to be. What fills her with rage now is the woman who removed that choice. She walked away from the plan to spare innocents and placed the mass murder of an entire nation on her shoulders. Lexa took the deal to spare her people in exchange for Clarke’s soul and barely even spared a glance to the woman who would become the Commander of Death. Covered in the blood of her enemies and dark kohl surrounding her bright green eyes, Lexa looked down at the woman she said she loved and could only say she was sorry. Lexa made her decision with her head, not her heart. She left Clarke standing on the side of that mountain and told her that she was choosing her people over her. Wanheda was born in that spot because it was in that spot that Lexa walked away from her mate.