The Next Heda
“I believe Lexa of TonDC should be taken into consideration,” Anya stated firmly before the committee, consisting of five elders responsible for deciding the next Heda. Of course, the elders did not simply choose the child they thought would fit best in the position. The spirit of the last commander found her way into the body of the next ruler of the trikru, it was simply up to the committee to figure out which child possessed her soul.
The second elder to the left scoffed at Anya’s declaration. “Of all your seconds,” he began, “why do you believe the child who has not even qualified to begin group combat training is fit to be the next commander? The same child who nearly got an entire village burned down because she thought it would be a good idea to build a fireplace in your tent?”
“She was only eight when that happened,” Anya responded bitterly. She knew Lexa was just trying to help, it was an abnormally cold winter. “I have been training her to fight since she was five. She’s small for her age, but she is an incredibly smart child. When she is focused, she has intellect like I have never seen before. She is capable of making tough decisions, even at such a young age. All I am asking is that you give her the test.”
The fourth elder chimed in. “All children make silly mistakes,” she began. “It couldn’t hurt to bring her in for testing with the next round.”
“Oh, please,” the second elder rebuttled. “We all know Anya is biased. I fear for the state of trikru if that child is in position to be the next commander-”
“Anya has been an excellent mentor,” the first elder interrupted. “She has done nothing but breed warriors, not only tough, but clever too. If she wants to bring Lexa of TonDC in for testing, I see no harm. The child cannot pass if she does not possess the spirit of Heda.”
The elders debated among themselves for a minute before deciding that Lexa would in fact be brought in with the other children during the next round of testing. Anya nodded, “I can assure you, even if Lexa does not become the next Heda, she will be one of the greatest leaders trikru has ever seen.”
She was right.
The twelve year old girl with sea green eyes and long braided hair nervously paced around her tent. It had been one week exactly since she was put through a test of stealth, intellect, and will. Despite the test itself being emotionally and physically draining, Lexa had hardly slept since she returned home. The elders had six days to discuss the results, and on the seventh, they would send a messenger if Lexa was indeed the next Heda.
“The sun is already mid-sky, Anya,” Lexa speculated. “Surely he would have arrived by now.”
“Settle, Lexa,” Anya commanded. “If you are not Heda, pacing around will not change that.”
Lexa sat down, attempting to remain calm, but still fidgeting. “I have never wanted something so badly before, Anya. It would bring such honor to my parents,” she admitted, a sad smile painting her face. Lexa was only five years old when her mother and father were killed in a battle against Azgeda. Anya, only 16 at the time, took her in as her own. “I already train kids,” she reasoned, “raising one will be just the same.”
“Lexa, your parents would be proud of you regardless,” Anya answered honestly, sitting beside her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You have great leadership skills. You will be a skilled warrior one day.”
“I know,” Lexa responded, “but if I was Heda, I could do so much more. I could unite the twelve clans!”
Anya laughed at Lexa’s grand ambitions. “If you do that, I will be impressed. There hasn’t been peacetime since before I was born.”
Lexa stood up, puffing her chest out in a confident stance. “I can do it, Anya. I just need the messenger to get here,” she looked out the door towards Polis. “To tell me I’m the next Heda.”
Lexa got her wish.
Lexa would learn to be careful what she wished for.
“Welcome to group combat,” leader Kai boomed across the crowd of eager children. “Here, you will learn how to be a warrior. Your strength of spirit will be tested.”
Kai continued to give his opening speech while Lexa looked around nervously. Everyone was staring at her, and she couldn’t figure out if it was because she was the oldest one there, or because the word was spreading that she was in line to be the next commander when she turned sixteen. The second, probably, she reasoned. She felt a tap at her shoulder. She was pleasantly surprised to see her friend Lucas, a small dark-haired boy whom she met while visiting a neighboring village with Anya, standing behind her. “Lucas!” she smiled. “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know anyone.”
“I’m glad to see you too! Why are you in the beginner class? I thought you were twelve.”
Lexa looked down self-consciously. “I was too small to go the past two years. I was too small to go this year, too, but they made an exception due to the news.”
“What news?” Lucas tilted his head.
“I’m the next Heda!” she beamed, extremely proud to be able to tell someone.
Lucas’s eyes grew wide as he took a not so subtle step back. “Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t know… Heda.” He bowed his head down, looking a mixture of startled and awkward.
Lexa was surprised at the reaction. “It’s okay, Lucas. I’m not Heda yet. I don’t take over for four more years. You can still call me Lexa.”
He hesitated, but then he stepped back forward to talk to his friend. “I just don’t want to be disrespectful is all. My parents taught me that. ‘Always respect the people above you’.”
His words hit Lexa like a ton of bricks. She didn’t want to be better than people, she just wanted to lead people, to help people. She suddenly realized that being the commander would mean she would have no true equals. It was a sad and lonely thought that she quickly pushed it away.
“Helping me lead the class today,” Kai continued to speak, “is Costia of Ington village.” A tall, dirty blonde girl with deep brown eyes, pattern tattoos running down the visible parts of her body, and a confident stance stood beside Kai. She was young, and had a baby face, but still managed to look intimidating.
“Hey, she’s from your village, Lucas,” Lexa nudged him. “Do you know her?”
“Yes. She began combat training two years early,” he replied. “She’s fought in real battles against Azgeda. She’s only eleven, but she already has a kill mark.”
Lexa raised her eyebrows. She was impressed. “Do you think-”
She was cut off by Kai. “You, whispering in the back, the girl, come over here.” Lexa swallowed hard, but obeyed. She trudged through the mass of children all staring at her, waiting for her to receive punishment for disrespecting the leader. She made it to the front and stood in front of Kai and Costia. “Do you think this is supposed to be fun?” Kai asked seriously. “If you screw around during combat training, and you go out there to fight, you will lose your life.” Lexa gulped, looking away from Kai and towards Costia, who was giving Lexa an equally firm stare. “State your name,” he demanded.
“I am Lexa,” she stated nervously. “Of TonDC.”
Kai’s eyebrows quickly shot up. “You?” he asked incredulously. “Of all people, I would have expected you to be a good example for the crowd,” he spat, disappointment lacing his voice. He looked to his left towards Costia and decided, “we’re starting our first demonstration a bit early today.”
Lexa stood nervously in the middle of the circle, her peers surrounding her on all sides, with Costia at the other end, looking fierce and intimidating. “Our first combat demonstration of today will be between our group leader, Costia, and Lexa of TonDC, the next Heda.”
Lexa had received combat training from Anya since she was a little girl, but she had never actually fought someone, let alone someone as experienced as Costia. She swallowed hard as she heard the surrounding mumbles. “It’s not a fair fight, clearly Heda will win,” one girl said. “I feel bad for that other girl,” a boy at the end of the circle chimed. Apparently Costia had heard that one, because her face grew even more intense. Lexa swallowed hard. Just don’t embarrass yourself, she thought. Stay focused and remember what Anya taught you.
“This is a weapon free fight. All shots must be taken with your bare hands. The winner will be determined when the other either surrenders or cannot get up. You may begin.”
Costia stayed at her end of the circle, taking a fight stance. Lexa quickly realized she would have to approach her if she wanted this fight to begin. Lexa kept her arms up, guarding her face, as she carefully made her way towards Costia. She took a few steps closer, taking a shot at the blonde’s face, before quickly receiving a swift kick to the gut. “Shit,” she breathed as she fell to the ground, getting the wind knocked out of her.
“Get up Heda,” the chants around her grew loud. She quickly got back on her feet, contemplating a new strategy. This time, she waited for Costia to come to her end of the circle. After a few minutes, Costia grew impatient and charged over, hoping to end this. Lexa swept her feet out from under her, causing the blonde to fall to the ground this time. “Not so tough now,” Lexa taunted with a half smile on her face, the cheers from the crowd growing louder. Costia quickly got up, landed a solid punch to Lexa’s right cheek, and in a split-second, everything faded to black.
Lexa woke up on a cot in the medical tent, with Nyko, the village healer, attending to other injured children, and Costia sitting on a chair a few feet from her cot. “Ugh,” Lexa held her head (she had never been knocked out before). “What happened?”
Costia smiled. “I kicked your ass, that’s what happened.”
The memories came flooding back to Lexa as she put her hands over her face in embarrassment, before flinching at the tender spot on her right cheek. “Was it as bad as I think it was?”
“Worse, probably,” Costia smirked, walking over to Lexa’s cot. “Nobody expected Heda to go down at all, let alone that quickly.”
“It was my first day,” Lexa rebuttled, looking up at Costia, noticing how big and deep her dark brown eyes were, not to mention how her braids fell perfectly despite being in combat all day. “Why are you here?” Lexa asked, before realizing her words sounded hostile. “I mean, not that I don’t want you here,” she rambled, “I just thought you would have more important things to do.”
Costia laughed. “I felt bad that I knocked out the next Heda. I wanted to make sure you didn’t die, or anything. I would have been in a lot of trouble.”
“Thanks,” Lexa rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile that Costia cared enough to stay with her in the tent, and for some reason her heart was beating faster than normal, and her palms were sweating, and she kind of felt like she was going to throw up. She reasoned it was because she just got knocked out.
“Well, now that you’re awake, I should probably get going,” Costia reasoned.
“Wait,” Lexa stopped her. “You’re staying in TonDC this week, right? For group training?”
“Yes, why?”
“Maybe I could show you around,” Lexa attempted to sit up, before her head decided that was not the best idea. “Ow,” she whispered, laying back down.
Costia giggled. “You can’t even sit up, I don’t think you’re in any shape to show me around.”
“No, I’m fine, I swear,” she argued. “I’m tough. I’m Heda, after all, remember?”
“Not yet,” Costia rebuttled playfully. “For four more years you’re just a girl. A girl who got her ass kicked by someone younger than her, no less.”
Lexa couldn’t figure out why, but she really liked Costia. “Tomorrow, then, I’ll show you around? Wait for me?”
“Sure,” Costia agreed. “I have nothing better to do.”
The rest of group training was a success, more or less. Lexa didn’t get knocked out again, so that was enough success for her. She got to show Costia around TonDC all week, and the two promised to visit each other when possible after training ended. That didn’t make saying goodbye any easier, though, but Lexa already was working on Anya to take her to visit Costia the next week.
“Please, Anya,” Lexa begged. “I’m not old enough to walk there alone.”
“Why do you want to see your friend so badly? You just spent the whole week with her! Besides, the next round of combat training is in a month.”
Lexa blushed. “She’s just really cool, is all. Never mind. Forget I said anything,” she felt embarrassed so she tried to walk away, but Anya stopped her.
“Wait,” Anya began. “Do you have a crush on her?”
“What? No!” Lexa insisted. “Ew, gross,” she exaggerated.
“Lexa’s first crush!” Anya teased, seeing Lexa’s ears grow more and more red by the minute.
“Stop, I don’t,” Lexa crossed her arms indignantly. “I just, I respect her, okay? She is already a great warrior. I want to learn from her, is all,” Lexa lied.
“Okay, sure,” Anya played along. “I’ll take you to see her next week. Only if you double your volunteering shifts for village cleanup.”
“Double?!” Lexa exclaimed, before realizing seeing Costia was so worth it. “I mean, sure. That is fair. I will start now,” Lexa said calmly, but as soon as she left the tent, a huge smile swept her face.
For the next two years, Lexa doubled her volunteering shifts.