The Capital: Polis
Miles away from the blood-soaked mud of the dropship, the towering, vine-choked ruins of the pre-war city stood as the absolute center of Grounder power. This was Polis.
Deep inside the Commander's tower, the heavy wooden doors of the throne room swung open. Anya and Lincoln walked briskly down the long, candle-lit hall, their boots echoing against the cracked marble floor.
Waiting for them at the end of the hall, sitting upon a throne forged from intertwined metal and bone, was the Commander of the Twelve Clans.
Lexa.
She was young—deceptively so. Lexa was petite and thin, with lightly tanned skin, full lips, and striking, calculating green eyes that missed absolutely nothing. Her long, wavy brown hair was pulled back into complex warrior braids. A strip of dark, tribal war paint was smeared across her eyes, giving her high forehead and youthful face an ancient, hardened intensity.
Standing immediately to her right was Gustus, her most fiercely loyal bodyguard and advisor. Gustus was a massive, imposing man with a muscular build, his dark brown skin covered in tribal tattoos. He wore his grayish-black hair in long braids that matched his thick beard, his dark eyes watching Anya and Lincoln with heavy suspicion.
To Lexa's left stood Indra, the ruthless Chief of the TonDC village. Indra had dark brown skin, sharp features, and short black hair. Her average build was deceptive, as her body and face were covered in battle scars and tattoos, marking her as a hardened, uncompromising veteran of the woods.
Anya and Lincoln stopped at the base of the throne and dropped to one knee, bowing their heads in deep respect.
"Anya," Lexa spoke, her voice calm, measured, and projecting absolute authority. "You return from the western woods. What news of the metal ship that fell from the sky?"
Anya stood, her posture rigid and military. "Heda," Anya began, "the ship is filled with children of the stars. Skaikru. But they are not defenseless. They have built a camp with wooden walls and wield the weapons of the Mountain."
Indra instantly scoffed, her brown eyes flashing with deep-seated hatred. "Then they are Maunon. They bring nothing but death. We must march the army to the woods and slaughter them before their poison spreads."
"They are not of the Mountain, Indra," Anya countered firmly, turning to face the older warrior.
Indra narrowed her eyes, stepping forward. "They use their weapons! Do you forget the blood they have stolen from our people? The reapers they create?"
"I forget nothing," Anya fired back, her voice raising slightly, before turning back to her Commander. "Heda, I witnessed the Mountain Men raid one of our hunting villages near the crash site. They stunned our people and dragged them away. But before they could escape, the Sky People struck."
Lexa leaned forward slightly, her green eyes sharpening. "They fought the Mountain Men?"
"They slaughtered them," Anya confirmed, the awe bleeding back into her voice. "But it was not with weapons, Heda. It was a single boy. He wields a power we have never seen. A dark magic. He stopped bullets in the air. He burned the demons in their suits to ash, and he snapped the necks of the Reapers without ever touching them."
A heavy, uneasy silence fell over the throne room. Gustus shifted his massive weight, his hand resting instinctively on the hilt of his sword. Indra looked at Anya as if the general had lost her mind.
"Magic?" Indra spat the word out, completely disgusted. "You let campfire tales cloud your mind, Anya. They use advanced technology to trick you. If they have the weapons of the Mountain, they are the enemy. Jus drein jus daun. Blood must have blood. We wipe them out."
"If they were our enemy, why bleed to save a village of Grounders?" Anya argued, her voice dropping into a desperate, tactical plea. "Heda, for generations our people have bled against Mount Weather. We cannot breach their steel doors. But this boy... his power is absolute. He stood over the ashes of the Mountain Men and claimed the title of Protector. If we ally with him, we may finally break the Mountain."
Lexa sat perfectly still, processing the massive, paradigm-shifting information. Her face remained a completely unreadable mask. A new faction with Mountain Men weapons and a boy claiming to wield magic was a dangerous, volatile variable. But an alliance that could end the Harvests was an opportunity a true Commander could not ignore.
"Indra is right to be cautious," Lexa finally spoke, her calm voice cutting through the tension. "Trust is not freely given to those who fall from the sky. But Anya speaks of an advantage our people desperately need."
Lexa stood from her throne, her green eyes locking onto Anya.
"I will not order the army to march. Not yet," Lexa declared. "We will send an envoy to this camp. We will speak with this Sorcerer and the leaders of Skaikru. If they offer peace and power against the Mountain, we will consider an alliance. If they show deceit... we wipe them from the earth."
Anya bowed her head. "Sha, Heda."
"Leave us," Lexa commanded softly.
As Anya and Lincoln turned and left the throne room, Indra glared after them, clearly unhappy with the decision, before bowing to Lexa and taking her leave.
Soon, only Lexa and Gustus remained in the dimly lit hall.
Lexa turned to look out the massive window over Polis, her mind already calculating the political ramifications of an alliance with the stars. To defeat the Mountain, she would need to navigate the fears of the Twelve Clans carefully.
But behind her, Gustus stared at the heavy wooden doors, a dark, dangerous resolve settling into his eyes.
Lexa believed in diplomacy and tactical advantage, but Gustus only believed in protecting his Commander. To him, this was a disaster waiting to happen. Skaikru was dangerous, unpredictable, and possessed weapons that could strike his Heda down from a distance. He didn't care about their supposed magic, and he certainly didn't care about a fragile alliance with outsiders.
Gustus quietly crossed his arms over his massive chest. He wouldn't say a word to Lexa. He wouldn't defy his Commander openly. But he had absolutely no intention of letting Lexa walk into a camp full of heavily armed invaders.
If Lexa wouldn't order the slaughter of Skaikru, Gustus silently vowed that he would find a way to manipulate the board and ensure the alliance died in blood before it ever began.