Training with the other Nightbloods was grueling. Including Lexa, there were nine officiates. Their day started before dawn with lessons—history, politics, battle strategy, economics, and mathematics. To lead well, a Commander must have knowledge of all things. After lessons came training. They trained in all types of combat with all types of weapons. They engaged in hand to hand combat. They learned to use swords, spears, bows, and throwing knives. They fought Titus, the current commander, and each other. After training came horseback riding or tracking or whatever other activity Titus had planned for them that day. Lexa loved it all. She was an excellent student. Even though she started later than some of the other officiates, she quickly surpassed them all in every way… all but one. Luna kom Floukru could out fight and out maneuver all of them. She was aggressive and brutal in her fighting style. And she was also Lexa's closest friend. "I know you are going to kill me one day," Lexa said to Luna. It was night, and once again, the two had slipped out to visit the lake. They sat on the dock, their bare feet dipped in the cool water. "You should also know that I want nothing to do with any of this," Luna replied. "It doesn't change the facts. You will win." "I know that I will, and that's what scares me."

"What do you mean?" Lexa gently asked. "I don't want to be a killer. Winning means killing my brother, killing you, killing everyone that we spend every day with. I'm afraid what it will turn me into. I won't be a good commander." There was a long silence between the two of them. Lexa didn't know what to say. She didn't like the situation any more than Luna did. To protect the Commander's sovereignty, every other Nightblood had to die. They were a threat to the Commander's reign. This was the way things had always been. Luna broke the silence. "You should be Commander, Lexa." Lexa turned her head in surprise and looked directly in Luna's eyes. There's was no falsehood there. Luna continued. "You were born for this, Lexa. You have the mind for it. You see things in way I will never be able to. And, you are a fighter. The clans would follow you." "Thank you, my friend. You honor me with your words." That night Lexa lay awake and thought about what Luna had said. She wanted to be the Commander, she knew that much. But what would she do once she had that power? The twelve clans had been fighting for as long as Lexa could remember. It had been years since her parents' death and many battles and skirmishes had been fought, but no real progress had been made. Life was an endless cycle of violence. But that had always been the way of their people. When I am Heda, Lexa thought, I will unite the people. They will all be my people, not just Trikru. Life can be better than this, I'm sure of it. That night, the dark haired woman appeared again in Lexa's dreams. Lexa couldn't be sure, but when she woke up, she felt as if she somehow had this woman's blessing.