Duty Before Feelings

Coward

Lexa's POV

Ditching the plan of distracting the guards, Roan and I quietly kill Azgeda guards in order to get through. Both being heavily trained warriors, it was not a difficult task. The difficult part was trying not to get caught.

"This way!" Roan whispers, running down a staircase.

Wasting no time, I follow him. However, before I could get to the bottom of the stairs, Roan is on his way back up.

"She's not here."

Sadness and disappointment floods through me, an amount I had not felt in awhile.

I pin Roan to the wall and hold my dagger against his chin.

"You lied."

Before he could reply, I hear a loud horn coming from outside the fort.

"That's the execution horn," Roan says, worryingly.

I immediately let go of Roan and allow him to lead the way. We run back up the steps and exit through a side door, an exit that was clearly built for secret passage in and out of the fort.

Keeping our hoods up and lowering our heads, we push our way through the crowd until I see a kneeling Clarke in the center, Queen Nia and Ontari beside her.

My heart sinks as I realise Nia is planning to do the same thing she did to Costia with Clarke.

"We can't do anything now. It's too late," Roan whispers in my ear.

"Yes, we can."

"Lexa, whatever you're thinking about doing, it's a death wish. There's nothing you can do."

No. I cannot let Nia kill another person I care about. I cannot let another person I care about die.

I emerge from the crowd, stepping into the center for everyone to see. After I pull down my hood, I hear shouts from the crowd.

"Heda!"

The word captures Clarke's attention as she opens her eyelids, revealing her beautiful blue eyes.

"Lexa?" She says, her eyes gleaming with hope and relief.

"What is the meaning of this?" Nia shouts, breaking the moment between Clarke and I.

I pull out my sword, causing civilians from the crowd to back away.

"Attack her and you attack me."

Nia instantly draws out her sword, walking slowly towards me.

"Then let us fight."

She goes for the first blow, allowing me to duck and swerve to avoid the sword's deadly blade. I catch her off guard by my sudden movement and I use it to my advantage, planting a large kick into her stomach, causing her to fall back onto the ground.

She gets up almost instantly and clashes her sword onto mine, slowly pushing me to the ground. In a quick moment of thinking, I clutch the blade of her sword with my other hand and push it away from me.