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Lexa was sleeping in her bed at the nightbloods' dorm, looking up at the ceiling as she laid down her head on her arms and thought about everything that happened. The day had been extremely tiring for everyone, especially for her. She had just returned to the capitol with Anya, after finishing a mission the Commander had sent the young warrior on, when she was told to participate in the lesson of the day and by the afternoon, Titus had pushed them further in their training than ever before. It had almost looked like he was preparing them for something that would happen soon and at that very same night, she found out what that something was.

She was woken up by the sound of hurried steps coming towards their quarters. Lexa had always been a light sleeper, being able to wake up when her senses registered movement, something that was quite useful when her brothers and sisters, all older than her, sometimes liked to play pranks on the youngest ones, that ability would allow her to escape them before they even reached her. She had also always had very accurate perceptions and her senses were always very sharp which she also relied upon. And so tonight was no different, she woke up and waited as the sounds grew louder, closer to the door and soon, the doors were opened, and the Flame keeper stood by the door looking at them before he sighed and called out.

"Nightbloods, wake up," He said and immediately, Lexa stood on her feet by her bed as the others started to wake up as well. She didn't fail to notice a bit of pride in his eyes when he saw her ready for whatever reason he was there. Within a couple of minutes, everyone had woken up and he sighed before closing the door behind him.

"I have come here to announce something quite important to all of you as well as to all of our people," He said to them as they waited with baited breath for what Lexa already knew would come out of the man's mouth.

"The Commander is dead," Titus told them and the nightbloods were all shocked and surprised by the news though no one was sad about it.

Bosco kom Ingranrona Kru (The Plain Riders Clan) was not a loved and respected Commander by his people or by his nightbloods, he was quite a cruel and brute man and Lexa strongly believed his death was long time coming. She would even talk about it with other nightbloods how she was surprised that he had survived 8 years in command when everyone wanted to kill him. She had no good feelings for the man and was glad to see him gone but his death could only mean one thing for the nine novitiates and the thought of that broke her heart as Titus proceeded to tell them exactly what she has already figured out by herself.

"His body is being returned to Polis tonight and is expected to arrive in the next candle mark. I will start preparing his body for the funeral and the purification ritual. As for all of you, the preparations for the Conclave have started as it shall happen tomorrow morning, at first light. Tonight, you must prepare your body and your mind for tomorrow one of you will ascend as The Commander of the Blood. May Bosco's spirit choose wisely," He said to them before he moved out of the room and left the nightbloods to their own thoughts.

"Well, it was about damn time that bastard died," Bron said as he cracked his knuckles with a smirk on his face as Lexa looked at him along with all the others.

"His death means the Conclave for us. Only you would be happy with the thought of slaughtering all of us, Bron. How Ice Nation of you," Dylan kom Louwoda Kliron Kru (Shallow Valley) said with a tone of disgust in his voice, as it was no shock that the Azgeda nightblood was the least liked member of their class.

"Stop being such a prude, Dylan and grow up. From the moment we were all brought here, from the moment we were born, we knew this moment would come and what we would have to do once it did. I have accepted my fate and so should you," Bron said firmly irritated at the overly soft nightblood.

"How do you expect me to accept the idea that to survive I have to be ready to slaughter my own brother? My twin, who I shared our mother's womb with for nine months? Who has been my best friend since our birth?" Luna kom Trikru (The Woods Clan) asked the guy as she held her brother, Lyon's hand in hers, him looking as distraught as she was.

"It's not ours or our people's problem that you are siblings and also nightbloods, is it? They must have a Commander and it must be one of us so why don't you all shut up so I can concentrate?" Tabithakom DelfiKru (Delphi Clan) said in her monotonous voice. It was the hardest thing to get a glimpse of human emotion from the girl except the perpetual bored looked she wore ever since she came to live with them.

"You and Bron deserve each other. You are both heartless, insensitive and unfeeling people and should commandership fall into one of your hands, our people will be worse off than they ever wore with Bosco and since the man was a lunatic, that is saying something," Luna said angrily to the girl who only smirked at her in return.

"Now, now, Luna. You are getting ahead of yourself. You and Lyon will be competing but who knows? Maybe one of you will get killed before you need to face each other? Would you like me to ensure that for you? Want me to kill your brother?" Tabitha said in a serious tone although the hidden sarcasm could be heard through each word and Luna was about to cross the room and start the Conclave right at this moment but Lexa held her back and so did Lyon.

"Do not engage in her provocations, Luna. It is exactly what she wants, to rile you up so you will make a mistake she can exploit. You are better than that, sister," Lyon said to his sister and she looked at him before nodding.

"How weak are you Luna? Even the kid hasn't complained about the idea of dying tomorrow and yet, all you have done until now is to throw a tantrum about how unfair everything is for you and your little brother," Bron said to Luna and Lexa turned to look at him.

"And who exactly says anything about me dying tomorrow Bron?" She asked him in her calm and undisturbed manner that usually unnerved those she chose to apply it to as he looked at her and scoffed.

"What? You think you can win? You think you can win against Tabitha, me?" He asked her and Lexa simply and very calmly crossed her arms behind her back and stared him down.

"Am I supposed to be afraid of you or Tabithat? Considering the very well-known fact that I have never truly lost a battle to either one of you before, I would say, yes, I do think I can win. Or at the very least, get rid of you both," She said impassively.

"Lexa is right though, Bron. She is better than you, better than most of us not just at fighting but at everything else. It's no coincidence she is the Flame keeper's favorite. I think I will watch out for her more than I will watch out for you," Marlo kom Yuljeda Kru (Broadleaf Clan) said smirking. He was a funny guy, always try to make everyone laugh. Lexa liked him a lot and she would be sad if she had to kill him.

"It will be my pleasure to crush your skull, Marlo. To hear my axe break the bones in your head will be music to my ears and I will remember those sounds forever and they will bring joy to me," Bron said to him and the guy simply shrugged, not fearful of the threats at all.

Bron turned to Lexa, "When I become Commander, my first act will be wipe out the Trikru from existence. You and your people are nothing but scum," He said with fury and disgust in his eyes but she wasn't fazed by it and it was actually Lyon who answered him.

"All the clans know that the only scum we have is the Ice Nation, full of dishonorable warriors following a mad Queen who cares little about the suffering of her own people and despite being here and away from that place for years, you are not different. You turned out the same as the rest and I hope that whoever wins this Conclave, which I assure it will not be you, will get rid of the Ice Nation once and for all," Lyon said passionately and others were nodding their heads since no one had any lost love to the icy clan.

"Lyon is right. Ice Nation is the worst of the worst and you are too, Bron. I may not win this conclave but I guarantee you won't either," Marlo said, followed by Trini kom Podakru (Lake People). She was someone who had lost her brother and her mother to a war against the Azgeda so one could say she had a personal problem with Bron's clan.

"Their extermination should have been done a long time ago," She said and Tabitha, Daren kom Ingranrona Kru, who a kind of ally of the Azgeda nightblood, and Bron himself started to argue with Dylan, Trini, Marlo, Lyon and Luna about whose clans should be exterminated as Lexa just watched and heard what they were saying but when she heard someone mention butchering little kids, she had enough.

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP!" She yelled at them and they all stopped talking and turned to look at her.

They all knew her to be a quiet child, who more often than not stunned them every time she let them see what she was capable off as well as not being very open about herself. Even as a younger child, she never told them anything about who she was before except her clan, they had no idea about her parents, any family member or anything like that. From the 10 years in which she had lived in Polis, Lexa had never raised her voice against them, against anyone for the matter. Whatever she need to say, she always said it but never raised her voice to do it and now she just yelled at them. They could do nothing but obey and shut up.

"Are you listening to the barbarities you're saying?" She asked them and she was livid which it was a rare but pretty scary sight to see, they judged, "Exterminating a clan? Murdering innocent people? Slaughtering families, children? What kind of people are you?" She said to them walking to the center of the room where she could look at all of them. "We may come from different clans and there may be bad blood between them but you are talking about ourpeople. My people," She said to them as they listened,

"I may be from the Woods Clan but I care about Shallow Valley, Rockline, Broadleaf, Ice Nation, all of them as you all should do it too! We are novitiates and one of us will be Commander tomorrow, and as such our loyalty is to our people, not solely our clan. The only ones who rejoice in the division of our people is the Mountain Men, can't you see that? We can never win against them if we are too busy scrabbling against each other when we should be working together to free our people from the terror they have inflicted upon us for almost a hundred years," She said to them as they listened to her words of reprimand.

"If all you care about is the power being Commander will give you, about how many of the people you dislike you can kill, then you are not worthy the color of the blood you have running in your veins and I am ashamed to call you my brothers," She said finally calming down.

"If this is all you have to offer should you win the Conclave, then I will make sure to win just so that I can prevent my people from suffering under any of your commands,"

"The people deserve a Commander that will care for their needs, that will protect them and their families to the best of their abilities from those who wish them harm. They deserve someone who will give a damn about them and their future and by what I just saw, that someone is clearly none of you. Butchering children? What kind of monsters are you? Those children are your children, my children, our children. You don't deserve to be here. You don't deserve your night blood. You are a disgrace to the Blood. Becca PramHeda would be ashamed if she could see and hear you now,"

"I had not made my decision before, having been feeling conflicted with the idea of killing you, the people I grew up with, shared my meals with, shared my blood with but you have helped me make that decision now. I will honor your deaths as well and as honorably as possible but comes tomorrow, I will fight with every bit of strength and passion I have in me and make no mistakes, I may be the youngest but I will win. I was born to be the Commander and I will do so and once I have taken my throne, I will give my people the best chance at a good life that I possibly can. The life they deserve," She said firmly and finished her speech as she noticed that they were speechless.

What was there left to say? None of them could find the words to fight her back on hers. Even Tabitha and Bron could not say anything against what their youngest companion said and could only look at her in awe. The others were having similar thoughts while also being afraid a little, Lexa has always been very good, always receiving the highest grades and the highest praises from their instructors, she was the youngest of them to be given a First to train her as a warrior.

If memory served them correctly, under Anya kom Trikru's guidance, Lexa had already fought in many battles and the last two wars. She was a remarkable warrior with just 12 years old, as well as the smartest one among them. If she was saying that tomorrow she would do her best to win, they were sure she was not saying it without meaning those words and for that, they started fearing for their lives, though some were more in denial than others. However, they were broken from the silence that seemed to stretch after the end of her speech when the doors were opened and a member of the Order came for them.

"Flamekeepr Titus requires your presence in the throne room," He warned them and they all nodded their heads understanding that it was time for the passing ritual.

Lexa was the first one to change her nightly, sleeping clothes and to move out of the room to wait for the others to do the same and join her. She thought about what she had said to them and felt the determination to see things through. For some time now, she had been wondering about if she should fight her brothers and sisters to be the Commander or if she should just accept to die and let the others be it. Her decision was made now. Not only would she fight to be Commander, she would be the best Commander her people has seen since Becca Pramheda.

She has dreamt for so long of a world in which so many of them don't have to die in pointless wars waged by leaders who only want more power and who forget who and why they are fighting for. Where war and death are not the only things they would know. When she was allowed, Lexa would walk around Polis, see the houses and the ruins and imagine everything that she would do to change it all and make things better for those living in their capitol. Create a larger healing tent in the middle for the most life-threatening injuries and smaller ones all around Polis for the minor injuries.

Create a school where the children could learn how to read. She even started to think about a way to write books in their language as well so that their stories could be told to future generations in their own way. She thought about those things a lot but she judged how small she was and that maybe she was not capable of completing those tasks, that she would die before given the people a chance at a more peaceful life. But now those doubts were gone. Whether she thought herself capable or not, she would have to be for her people.

Soon enough, more of the others joined her and once they were all in line, the member escorted them towards the throne room where they saw the Commander's body resting on a table covered by a white sheet with candles lighting the room as people were there to oversee the Conclave and the Ascension of their new leader. Once inside, the nightbloods were each given a pair of gloves and were made to stand in lines before they bended their knees and their head in respect to their fallen Commander as the ritual demands even if not done out of respect.

Bron, as the eldest being 18 years old, was the first one to stand up and walked towards the small table where the purifying powder was in the container. He lifted the lid of the container and grabbing an amount of the red powder before moving towards the table and dropping the powder over the body of the man who he could be succeeding in a few hours, either in death or in power. He desperately hoped that it was the latter.

"May the Spirit of the Commander choose me," He said before nodding his head and returning to his place but standing on his feet. Tabitha, 18 but a few months younger than Bron, went next and did the same thing, saying the same line before returning to her place.

Daren, 17; Marlo, 17; Trini, 16; Dylan, 15; Luna and Lyon, 14, went next and they all did the same thing, and said the same thing as all the others since it was the tradition and it was Lexa's turn so she stood up, grabbed the powder and dropped over the body.

"May the Spirit guide me when I become Commander," She said as everyone was surprised by the breaking the tradition and by the sheer determination and unwavering certainty in the little girl's voice as she said those words and as she returned to her place with the others shuffling awkwardly in their places. The Flamekeeper stood in front of them and the others and started speaking.

"Bosco of the Plain Riders has passed but the Spirit of the Commander lives on and is ready to choose. Today, a new Commander will rise and we shall rise along with the chosen one," He said to the crowd as the first sun rays started shinning thought indicating that the sun was about to rise in the sky before turning to them.

"Nightbloods, the time for the Conclave has come. Your First and a member of the Order will accompany you to prepare and then lead you to your places. May the Spirit choose wisely," Titus said and the nightbloods nodded.

Each of them joined their Firsts, including Lexa who was joined by Anya, who proceeded to escort her way from the room. "You look tense, child," The warrior said and Lexa looked at the woman with whom she spent the last 5 years with.

"I am not tense, I am anxious. There is a difference," Lexa said as she rolled her eyes at the warrior and Anya snorted at the obnoxious nightblood she had grown to care for despite her reluctance and cold image.

"Must you always be obnoxious?" Anya asked her former second and Lexa smirked at her.

"Must you always be a bitch?" She said and Anya chuckled as they entered the elevator.

To be continued…