" May we meet again " said Lexa , the brief regretful look replaced by an implacable expression , turning her back , she gave the retreat order , the few seconds it took her to give the order was all Clarke needed to snap out of her torpor, she threw herself on Lexa back, putting a knife under her throat , screaming " Stop ! Cancel this order! "
Lexa was more than surprised; she never thought the Sky girl would react like this!
"Clarke, do you even understand what you are doing? It will get you killed! Release me! " said Lexa with a severe tone. Clarke just pressed further the knife, making a little blood appeared, proving how serious she was ; " I'm doing exactly what you have done and what you would have done in my situation! I am putting my people first, before my feelings and everything else! Now, cancel the retreat order! And tell to one of your warriors to bring back the mountain man you just released! "
Lexa tried to resist but finally gave the orders, the Grounders around them were silent but ready to attack Clarke, waiting for her to make a mistake, nobody could hope to escape alive once you had threatened the Heda's life.
The mountain man was standing in front of them, a Grounder warrior captured him before he could enter in the mountain , Clarke started to question him,
" What deal have you offered to the Grounders? "
The mountain man still had his superior expression but he seemed a little more worried, things did not turn out the way they were supposed to, he hesitated to answer but the army around him left him with little choices, " we offered them to let the Grounders prisoners go and to never attack them again if they were retreating."
Clarke let out a scoff, disbelief obvious on her face; she addressed Lexa, talking in her ear,
" And you believed them ? You really trusted them, you, the so called wise leader? You should know after Tondc that they would not hesitate to kill anyone who stands in their ways! What do you think will happen when they are able to leave the Mountain? Do you really think they will want to live peacefully with their neighbours? That they will not want to expend their territory ? If a village is on their way, do you really think that they will hesitate to eradicate it ? " , Clarke shook her head , she was disappointed , Lexa's decision made no sense to her , it wasn't logical ! Agreeing to retreat for the mountain men to release the Grounders prisoners made sense if you had another plan , another strategy to eliminate the Mountain men's threat , you just don't retreat like this and leave your enemies behind , alive ! Especially when you had what must be one of the biggest army on earth at your disposal!
Lexa expression cracked a little but she stayed silent, still firm in her decision , she had done what she thought was best for her people, with the little time she had to make her choice , she just couldn't think of everything . Even if what Clarke was saying was true, she could not regret her choice. Seeing that Lexa will not answer her, Clarke returned to question the prisoner,
" How many armed men are inside? How can we open the door? "
The Mountain men had a smirk when he answered " I don't have to answer you! I know they cannot do a thing to me without breaking their deal! Just let me go! "
Clarke was thinking fast, maybe she could take advantage of his arrogance, his clear disdain for the Grounders, she spoke strongly " So you think they are cowards? "
Some growls could be heard among the Grounders, they were proud warriors, being treated of coward was the worst insult for them.
The Mountain man was beginning to panic; he answered quickly " I never said that!"
Clarke kept pushing, talking more loudly " No, you never said it, but it was clearly implied! You were saying that they would never touch you because they are afraid of the mountain men, not because of a deal! A deal mean nothing in time of war, the commander just prove it when she broke the deal she had with the Sky people!So, if it is not the deal, then it means that they are cowards! It means those proud warriors are afraid of your soldiers! ", more growls could be heard , " Well I can understand , since they are children we told them horror stories about the mountain men ", she began to shout " BUT ARE THEY STILL CHILDREN AFRAID OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN OR PROUD GROUNDERS WARRIORS ? ARE THEY SOME COWARDS WHO DO NOT WANT TO FIGHT AND TO KILL THEIR ENNEMIES ! ", shouts of indignation could be heard, « WE ARE NOT COWARDS! », Lexa had lost her stoic expression , a small smirk was now present , it was the Clarke who made her heart beat faster , she knew Clarke had the potential to be a strong leader and this Clarke will not give up until her people were free, she whispered for not being heard by anyone " I'm not a coward sky princess ! I will follow you. "
The mountain man was more and more worried; he tried to regain control of the situation, saying to the grounders
"Stop that! If you broke the deal, we will not hesitate to shoot you! Many of your people will be killed! "
However, Clarke seemed unperturbed, she kept talking to the Grounders " Yes a lot of people, Sky, and Grounders people will lost their lives, this is war! But what happen if you retreat now? Will you not regret to not have fought as warriors? Will you not regret to not have tried to fight against the people who were transforming you in Reapers, the same people who hunt you since you are children, who were giving you nightmares when you were children and will keep to give nightmares to your children, knowing they will be free to walk around anywhere they want, free to do what they want thanks to the death of my people! " Murmurs and screams were travelling among the Grounders, the Grounders army began to reorganise itself, the eyes of the Grounders becoming more fierce, " WILL YOU GO HOME, THE HEAD DOWN? ASHAMED AND AFRAID FOR YOUR CHILDREN? OR WILL YOU FIGHT TODAY AND FINALLY BE FREE OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN? DO YOU WANT TO BE PROUD WARRIORS OR COWARDS GROUNDERS? " screamed Clarke. More Grounders answered " We are proud warriors ! "
" I CAN'T HEAR YOU! ARE YOU GOING TO FIGHT AS WARRIORS? " Screamed again Clarke, this time the Grounders army answered in unison " WE ARE GOING TO FIGHT! ", they began to tap on their shields, the noise becoming louder and louder, a roar of war escaping their throats.
Clarke then turned her head to the Grounder who was standing behind the mountain man " kill him, he is of no use to us! "
The Mountain man fall on the ground , his throat slit open , murmuring before dying " you don't know what you have done! " , Clarke had an impassive face as she watched the man dies ,she murmured " yes , I know what I have done , I just broke your deal. " then she shouted " NOW WE GO TO WAR! "
" TO WAR! " was screamed among the grounders.
The door opened, Octavia and the Grounders with her had infiltrate the mountain thanks to Bellamy, Clarke whispered to Lexa before releasing her " I'm sorry, you didn't give me a choice. "
Lexa had a murderous glare but the small smirk was betraying her, she stopped her bodyguards from attacking Clarke with a motion of her hand " You know that you will have to answer for attacking me! I can't let it pass! " Clarke gave her a solemn nod , showing she understood and will assume whatever judgement she will give her, conscious of the gravity of her act , " Good , after the war you will surrender yourself and wait for your judgement ! Agreed? " asked Lexa.
" Agreed " answered Clarke.
" Good! Now we go to war! " said Lexa , she screamed and charged , Clarke and the Grounders army following her . The battle was fast and brutal ,once the door open the mountain men were not enough to contain the army of Grounders , they were massacred , only the children were spared , the 'old innocents people ', who survived thanks to the death of countless of Grounders, were not spared .
They had lost some people but they had won , the Mountain men were not existing anymore , the children will learn to live among the Grounders , becoming Grounders , they will be separate and watch closely to make sure they do not rebel .
The Sky people were rejoicing , happy that it was the end of this nightmare , when a Grounder came to them " Clarke of the Sky people , you have to come with me! "
Abby was the first to react " Clarke ,what 's happening ? What have you done? "
Clarke let out a big sigh , looking her mother in the eyes " I'm sorry mom , I have done what was necessary for wining this war . I am not proud of what I had to do and now I must accept my punishment , the alliance will not break because of me ! Not after all these sacrifices. ", her regard was pleading , she wanted her mother to understand that there were no others choices , she will never forgive herself if she was the reason of another war , there has already been enough bloodshed , no more!
Her mother seemed to understand , her regard softening " Ok , ok Clarke but please be careful ! Whatever you have done , you did it for your people , for us to be safe ! So be proud , all right ? There is nothing to forgive! » , Abby took her in her arms , Clarke was finally letting go of all the stress , the worry , the sadness brought by the war , she enjoyed the warmth of her mother . She told her goodbyes to her friends and followed the Grounder .
Two days later Clarke was in a cell , the only person she saw during those two days was the one giving her some foods , she could not sleep ,afraid of what will happen to her , afraid of the verdict . At the end of the second days , Lexa entered her cell , her hard gaze was aloof , she began to talk " For any person who threatened my life , the sentence should be death ! ", Clarke who was already pale with her stay in the cell, turned white , sweating , Lexa kept talking , seeming unperturbed " but I have a problem, you see, this Sky Girl who threatened me , who stood strong against me , took command of my army and made us win against our older enemies , has stolen my heart ! " Clarke was startled , eyes wide , after a small pause , Lexa, who now had a soft face , her regard tender , eyes full of love , kept saying, "Do you think this Sky girl would accept a union with me ? ", Clarke was completely lost , she did not know what to say.
" Well , unless she would prefer death ? " asked Lexa with a smirk , making Clarke came out of her stupor , a soft smile forming on her face as she came closer to Lexa , " Yes, this sky girl will accept an union with the dangerous commander ! She too has fallen in love with someone she shouldn't have ! ", she lean forward , giving a deep kiss to Lexa. They will have happy smiles over the next days , never able to completely suppress them.
