Sky to Ice

Clarke's pov

Close-up the tower is even bigger than from the hill we've been standing on half an hour prior. It is an incredible sight but I don't let my expression show the awe I feel. Echo, on the other hand, is not as successful at hiding her emotions as I am. Much to the amusement of the guards who are still at the commander's side.

„You've never been to Polis?" The commander asks that question with such a disbelieve I could have laughed out loud. Instead I just answer, keeping the tone of my voice cold but not as frosty as usually. „Sha. I didn't exactly have the opportunity in my time here on earth and Echo was too engaged in training to really try to sway the former queen to let her come here."

The commander just nods and goes back to walking in the tower with us on her heels.

The room I am given for the duration of my stay in Polis is huge. Only a fraction smaller than the one I have in the- in my castle. It's still weird to be called a queen and have a whole castle in my possession for the rest of my life.

There is a huge bed, draped with furs on the farthest wall of the room. On the wall right beside the door I just walked through is a table and a chair, ready for work. Besides that the room is almost completely empty and on the left of the bed is a passageway that probably leads to a bath and a closet.

Before I was allowed to retire for the day, I was told that I will lay down my pledge tomorrow in the afternoon. Afterwards there will be a feast for the rest of the day.

I am permitted to stay in Polis for another few days if I want to but I'm planning to get home rather sooner than later.

The next morning comes faster than anticipated and, as always, I'm up before the first ray of sunshine hits the earth.

Before taking my first steps on the ground and seeing the beauty of the night with snow beneath my feet, I've loved sleeping late into the day. I loved sleeping but now I love gazing at the stars and experiencing the world I came down to without anybody else awake, without constant hustle around me.

The ground made me nyctophilian and I adore every second I can watch the moon slowly evanescing behind the horizon and giving place to the sun that will wake everyone still asleep and mark the beginning of another day.

Another day, I am here to encounter. Another day, I can feel my heart thundering in my chest and blood rushing through my veins. Another day, I will fight to see the next sunrise.

Today, my fight is political. Today, I will bow to the only person I am inferior to.

Today, I will bow to the commander.

As soon as I hear a knock on my door, I know that my peaceful morning finds it end. I make myself noticeable with a delayed „Come in" and am instantly in company with two handmaids, ready to clothe me in a ceremonial dress and paint my face with warpaint.

The dress they bring me reminds me vaguely of the one I wore to my admission ceremony all those years ago. It's made of black fabric and some white accents but it also has some blue lines between the black and white, no doubt to emphasize her eyes. The design was made it reaches the floor when I wear it and it has a small slit for my leg to slightly peak out.

My warpaint is put on differently for this peaceful occasion than for the war we fought only a week prior. The blue eyes that stare back from the mirror I'm standing before are framed with black paint which has streaks leaking from it, directed to my nose. It reminds me of the commander's warpaint I've seen on the battlefield.

„Gon we (Leave)", I order the maids who immediately make their way out of my room.

Once the door closes behind them, I take the white paint and dip my palm into it. The paint feels cold like the icy region, I've been raised in the last three years. It feels like home.

I raise my hand and observe how a white handprint appears where I lay it. I'm proud of you. I can basically hear Artis' voice and it draws a sad smile on my face.

„Ai mema yu we, noni. (I miss you, dad)"

Lexa's pov

I'm sitting in my throne, greeting the ambassadors and leaders of the different clans with faked interest, when one of my guards comes up to me and bows deep.

„Heda, em ste ogud. (Commander, she is ready.)"

Finally. I nod. „Lid em in ona. (Bring her in.)"

Seconds after he leaves the room, the huge doors in front of me start to open and the small crowd becomes silent except for a woman that's singing a sacred song. As it is custom, I stand up, just keeping my gaze to the now open entryway.

Wanheda, the commander of death, Azplana, Klark strides her way inside. She pays no attention to the rest of the room and keeps her eyes on me. Her dress silently glides over the floor after her and her leg shows with every step she takes. Her hair is made into an intricate braid and her face is painted similar to mine. There is that white handprint again, I'll have to ask her what it means sometime.

When she comes to a halt right before me, her gaze lowers and she sinks to one knee. Her eyes stay fixed on the floor when she speaks.

„Heda, oso don ge gon wor kom choda en oso don don frag op moun ogeda warriors. Ai ste hir hod op noyus jusdreinen en glong raun kongeda-de bilaik haiplana nia taim don dula. Ai na nowe ton au ai bakon gon yu en moun twel clans. (Commander, we have been at war with each other and we have killed the others warriors. I am here to stop the useless bloodshed and join the coalition like Queen Nia once did. I will never turn my back to you and the other twelve clans.)"

She waits and slightly tilts her head upwards so she can catch my gaze. I know what she's looking for and give the smallest nod for her to continue. She understands and averts her eyes once again.

„You fealty gon yu, Heda Leksa kom trikru, bilaik ai na dufa op yu gaf in kom we ai gada in en yu kru kom we ai kru. (I swear fealty to you, Commander Lexa kom Trikru, that I will treat your needs as my own and your people as my people.)"

I reach out my hand for her to take. „Gyon op. (Get up.)"

The ice queen finds my eyes and takes the hand I offer her. There is a slight bit of wonder in those ice-blue oceans I feel like I could drown in.

„Gon symbolize dison union, Azplana souda bear oso tali op. (To symbolize this union, the ice queen must bear our mark.)"

As soon as the words leave my mouth one of my guards walks up to us with a from heat glowing iron that's formed into the symbol of the coalition.

„Ron ai op yu gonz. (Give me your arm.)“

Azplana obliges my demand without any hesitation and stretches her arm out. Gently, I close my hand around her wrist and pull the sleeve of her dress up with the other. Her arm is a bit paler than her face, if even possible.

I take the hot steel from my guard and give a quick glance to Clarke‘s eyes to receive consent before I press the symbol to the skin just under the crook of her elbow. My eyes find her‘s again and search for the pain I expect to see there. There is nothing. No pain to be seen in the windows to her soul, as if she doesn‘t feel her skin burning. Or maybe she just doesn‘t care.

It seems for me as if I am in more pain only from hearing the sizzling sound of her skin being adusted than her. I can feel embarrassment flooding my whole body as I register that thought. 

Her skin is coloured an angry red when I remove the assaulting piece of iron.

„Pledge ste layed daun en memon ste beared kom haiplana. Azgeda nau ste skrap kom dison kangeda. Jomp op emo, jomp op ai. Teik feast stot au. (The pledge is layed down and the symbol is beared by the queen. The ice nation is now a part of this coalition. Attack them, attack me. Let the feast begin.)“