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Nomcy007- Thanks.

Rainzeik : Thanks. I look forward to your reviews.

Lowiee: haahaha, you know my writing style. You will have to wait for Clarke to be Lexa's whole. :P

Jude81: Tbh, I am really excited for this fic coz like you I had been waiting for a good clexa arrange marriage fic but sadly couldn't find any. All the time I spent trying to find it gave multiple ideas to me which I plan to embed in this fic. Hope you'll like , 'I HOPE YOU DON'T KILL OFF LEXA' CRACKED ME UP! 'Lost' follower, I am sure.

Speca: Angst is my middle name. You'll know if you read the other clexa fic of mine.

Melissa: Thank you and sorry for the delay.

SaturnaliaGirl: This story's Clarke will be a little toned down in the beginning, please be patient if you want the 'show's Clarke'. She will come, but in later chapters. And hahahaha, I am sorry but I have to portray Bellarke love in these initial chapters. Thank you for the review.

Annie: Thank you for suggesting the name as well as for the appreciation but I think I'll just stick with the original name.

Sajiko27: Thank you. And totally went board with your suggestion; not changing the name.

Kielena: Kai and Elena shipper? Thank you.

Delena is real: Thank you so much for your consistent suppport pal! Lexa is this story is very charming, you'll see.

phoneix072124: thanks.

soulterror: thanks pal. Hopefully you'll like this chapter.

PII12pally and cyntiacsd : :)

Jayque Kyd :It was electrify, my bad. Let's just say too much chemistry is not good for fanfic writers :( And you will get your history as the chapters progress.

Khrat9: Thanks a bunch for your kind words.

Sarconistia: You are not the only one. I love arranged marriage fics and that's probably why I am writing one ;) And thank you. I wanted to show you guys the soft side of Lexa by that dance.

Sedgie: Thank you for the review and the title suggestions.

miggit91: You are telling me. I had written the first chapter and then I am just thinking 'what the hell should I name it?' but in the end, I think i will stick to the original name.

LitaDelacour: Hmm...my lips are sealed. If I say anything to your comment I'll end up giving major spoilers. But thanks for the review. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Milkinis94: I too hope that. Thank you for the review.


Title: Sacrifice

Relationship: Clarke and Lexa (Clexa)

Author: ArshuK

Beta: Thundering Ice


CHAPTER-2

Bellamy feels like his heart is shattered into a million pieces as his sister informs him of the news. He has tried going to Clarke's room four times since. Each time, Raven greets him with a morose face, shakes her head sadly, and informs him that she isn't there. Now, he is there for the fifth time, ready to knock when he realizes something. The door is basically an analogy to his life. Like the door, there will always be barriers in his life to stop him from having the girl he loves. He observes the intricate design on the door. The intermingled lines remind him of how fucked up his life has become. How it has become so intermingled with Clarke's. How he does not know what to do without her. His hand is still in the air, ready to knock, when his sister pokes his head out of the said door.

" Again, she is not-"

"Here." Raven's voice completes Octavia's sentence.

Bellamy looks away from the piercing stare of his sister and moves back only to be stopped by Octavia's hand as she places it reassuringly on her brother's.

"She is not avoiding you. I promise. She has just gone to talk to Abby. I know this isn't easy on you, Bell, but you need to face the reality of this. I have already packed my things and Raven is packing Clarke's."

These words really jolt Bellamy into the actual reality. He feels it crushing him and suffocating him. He feels his eyes sting, but he will not cry in front of his sister. He will stay strong.

"I did not agree to go with her just for her, Bellamy. I did it for you too."

Bellamy nods, expressing the gratitude he is feeling for his sister on his face,

"Thank you, O. At least, she will have someone there who she can rely on and trust."

"I will take care of her. I promise, but it's time for you to accept that she is no longer yours."

Bellamy whispers in a heartbreaking voice, "She never was."

Octavia opens her mouth to object, but he beats her to it and continues, " I should have known, Octavia. Abby would never have let her daughter marry me. After all, I tried to kill Abby's best friend, Jaha. I just kept thinking, hoping, that if we were able to win this battle, if I were to be able to prove myself to her, it would be ok. I would be able to marry her. I should have seen how foolish that notion was in the first place. So so foolish. "

"It's hard to fight against life, brother. No matter how hard you try, it comes back to bite you on the ass."

Bellamy nods in dejection.

"What do I do now?" His voice pleads. He no longer is the strong, fearless brother Octavia was used to. He is nothing but a broken, hollow man now.

Octavia gives him a small smile as she says,

"You love her. You show her you love her, show her you are there for her. Who knows what the future holds for you, Bell, but her future is marked. Your one mistake will ruin her whole life. She is reckless and headstrong, but she will forsake her nature for her people. She is doing this for us, Bellamy. Respect this and accept Abby's decision. What you need to do now is love her till she leaves."

"You want me to show her that I love her by not showing myself?" Bellamy chuckles darkly and leaves.


She is hiding in the small room on the roof. She does not want to speak to anyone because she has no words and neither has she the ability to listen to people giving their fake congratulations on her soon to be marriage. She was treated like a trade utility, exchanged to keep the country healthy and running. She feels tears starting to leak her out of her eyes, and she doesn't try to stop them. This might be the last time she is allowed to cry freely, for she fears that is she going to be a prisoner very soon. How is it that life is still unsatisfied after all it's taken from her?

Her mind falls back into her past. Those few glorious years of her childhood. She thinks of the love her parents shared. She remembers her father always holding the chair out for her mother. She remembers how he would occasionally grab her knuckles and kiss them lovingly. She remembers the adoration in her mother's eyes as she would look at her father. She remembers the times when she went to wake her parents up on weekends to find her father and mother cuddling deep in the most blissful sleep. She remembers her parents dances at the Ark's annual founding day; her father holding her mother close and swaying to the beat. She swooned to her parents often, hoping one day to be as in love with someone as they were. She was a passionate woman; she craved intimacy. Now, here she was betrothed to a woman she hardly knew for a day. Her parents found each other through love, and she didn't need to do any finding as life had already found her her other half. Though the only difference is that she hates her.

Bellamy was everything to Clarke. He would find her when she was most upset, console her, and shower her with his love. He would occasionally bring flowers to her, just to watch her face light up. He would bring movies for her to which they would cuddle and watch it on her dad's old laptop. He would send her secret smiles while training, and he would always be trying to work a little too hard to impress her. Occasionally, making a fool of himself in the process. His kisses...oh his kisses..were like a shower in a desert. He came to her every night after she said good night to her mother. He was the one who held her in his loving arms when she had a nightmare. In the beginning, they would fight each other endlessly, banter over the smallest things, but somehow, they both fell for each other. Clarke found how true his passion was.

Her eyes brim with tears at the flowers, scarves, necklaces, and all the gifts he has given her throughout their time together. She cannot take them with her because it will be too suspicious. She wipes her face with the hem of her shirt, but the tears keep flowing, wetting her face again. How did this happen? Why couldn't it be Bellamy at the end of the aisle? She has this urge. This sudden urge to run to her room, call Bellamy, and give him everything of hers. Let him have her before the commander has a chance. She stands up, opens the door, and comes out. She is ready to walk down the steps that lead to her room to follow through with her plan, until she looks down from the rooftop.

He is in the training ground fighting with his sister. He is training really hard, but she can see his heart is not into it. She can see how unusually uncoordinated his punches and kicks are. The sight breaks her heart even further. He is just as torn up about this as her. She really wants to sooth his pain, his suffering, but she can't. The slight moment in which she hesitates, peering down at Bellamy, gives her mind time to think of the pledge she had made when her father's died. She has only one thing of her own, her virginity. She can either give it to the man she loves and part with him, or she can keep it until her wedding night, as she had promised. She knows that giving herself to Bellamy, then leaving him will further devastate the both of them. So, she does nothing but observe her Bellamy fight .


"Are you sure you want to come with me, O?"

Her friend sends the young girl a smile.

"Clarke, you know I love my brother, but right now you need me more. Plus it's not like I can never come back. I might come back once you get comfortable and make some friends there."

Clarke wishes to give a sarcastic answer to it (because really? getting comfortable there? Not likely) but she doesn't as she knows her friend is also powerless here and is just trying to be helpful. So instead, she envelopes her in a hug. Bellamy hasn't come to say his good-bye to her, but she thinks it's better this way.

"Did you return him the things?" Clarke whispers.

Octavia nods. She did not agree with Clarke for rounding everything she had ever received from Bellamy up and sending it back to him, but she did understand. She has to cleanse herself from her past and become the wife of the commander of 12 clans. No mistakes are allowed for such a strong position. So while saying final goodbyes to her brother, she returned all the gifts to him.

"Do you think you could love your new wife?" Raven, who had just finished packing for Clarke, asked casually.

Clarke's eyes blaze with anger and giving Raven a deathly look says,

"Never."

Whenever her mind goes to Commander Lexa, her thoughts become dark and sinister. She will accept her as her wife, even lie with her in her bed, but she will never love her. Her biggest demand was to marry her. Clarke will not allow anything else. She has stolen her hand from the man it belonged to, and she will not let her steal her heart too. She detests her.

Raven studies her friend quietly. She is wearing a blue button up shirt with black pants. A blue jacket hangs on her shoulders. Even in the casual dressing, she looks regal. She knows she was born to lead. She had from the very first time she had met the girl when she had landed on Earth. She had seen how the 100 listened to her. She had also witnessed the initial struggle of leadership between Bellamy and Clarke. It was clear to her though that from the very beginning, it was Clarke that was the leader. Raven was proven right when Clarke turned out to be the one who managed to keep them alive till the elders landed on Earth. Thus, she never really saw Bellamy fit for her. Bellamy was not equal to Clarke.

A wave of sadness hits Raven as she realizes all the potential Clarke has. She was born to rule, her mother would have sooner or later subsided, leaving the ground for Clarke. With the brilliant mind like hers, Raven was sure Clarke knew this, yet she was ready to give it all up for love. Raven looks away and out the window with the realization that she has never felt that way about another person before. It brings sorrow to her heart, and she believes she will never have the sentiment returned.

There is knocking at the door, Octavia sends Clarke a reassuring smile as she gets up to answer it. The door opens to reveal Ryder, with a stoic expression. Clarke scowls further. She somehow finds herself loathing this man as well.

"Sky Heda, are you ready to go?" He asks in a deep, rasping voice.

Clarke glares at the warrior even his voice sounds irritating to her. Everything related to the grounders sounds irritating to Clarke, since the announcement of her marriage. Nonetheless, she nods and follows (Raven and Octavia right behind her) the warrior to the Ark's gate, to meet with her new fiancé.


Lexa's servants have already loaded all of Clarke's belongings onto the wagons. Lexa is standing with Indra, Marcus, and Abby awaiting Clarke. She enters, looking more fierce than ever, and Lexa looks at her in dejection. She does not want to do this, to rip this poor girl from her home, but she has a duty to her people, and for their protection, she must. Sacrifices must be made for the peace and safety of her people.

Clarke reaches the bottom of the stairs, both her friends behind her. She stands tall in front of Abby. Abby frowns and brings her into a hug. Clarke stiffens at the contact but if Abby felt it, she ignored it.

"I love you, Clarke."

Clarke does not reciprocate instead waits to be freed of the hug. Clarke knows she does not wish this, but it does not stop a part of her from hating her for it anyway, blaming Abigail Griffin. Marcus hugs her next, telling her how proud he is of her and thanking her in her ear. Clarke feels better knowing at least he knows a bit of what this is costing her.

Raven is next. She launches herself at Clarke and hugs her with full force. Clarke has given her the love of a sister, and Clarke feels the same way about her. She is like a sister, and she feels as if she were her blood. A few tears escape Raven's eyes, and Clarke wipes them away, sending her a watery smile.

"I will miss you so much, Griffin."

She closes her eyes and channels some internal energy to stay strong. She will not break down in front of the damn grounders.

"I will miss you as well, Raven."

Raven proceeds to hug Octavia but she no longer is paying attention. She has turned to the woman she has a grudge against. She looks right at her into those strong bottle green eyes that are soft when they fall upon her. Clarke walks forward, power in each step. She is face to face with her, the first face off since the awful arrangement had been made,

"Sky Heda."

She uncontrollably shivers at how her new title sounds off the lips of the commander. Her voice is so soft, so welcoming. She focuses on rage to clear her head, she focuses on her hatred for this woman. The commander then bows down and kisses her knuckles. She is so surprised that she does not even bother to take her hand back. She had seen this only in movies of olden times. Who did that now-a-days? Apparently, the grounders. This does shock her but not as much as her bow. She was a fan of Arthurian movies and knew that the people with lower stations bowed to the people with higher stations and the commander definitely had a higher station than Clarke, and yet she bowed. But maybe that particular part isn't followed by the grounders. Her theory is immediately rejected as she hears Indra mutter disapprovingly something in a foreign language which earns her a deathly glare of the commander.

Rage, anger, detestation, she tries to focus back on the negative emotions. She looks back at the commander. She is expected to reciprocate.

"Commander."

The green eyes were looking intensely into her blue ones, but with a dip of her head, the commander breaks away the contact and motions to Ryder. She is still staring at the commander when she hears the trotting of a horse. Her eyes widen as they fall upon the most beautiful horse she has ever seen. It is a stunning brown coloured horse that Lexa grabs the reins of and pats the horse. She allows a small twitch of her lips as she looks at Clarke.

"Clarke, this is Hedwin. She is a powerful and loyal horse who will serve you well in our journey to Polis. Please accept this as a gift. " Lexa says, handing the reins to Clarke.

The horse is exquisite. She has azure eyes to match Clarke's, and her body is hard and muscled. She can hear it's strong heartbeat. She cannot help but run her fingers over the animal's mane. She may detest the woman, but she cannot detest this present. She looks at Lexa in the eye and is amused to detect a hint of nervousness in them; her body language, however, is anything but nervous. This is the moment Clarke learns that Lexa holds her emotions in her eyes.

"Thank you, Commander. I think she will be a comfortable ride to Polis."

Lexa nods her head in reply, and Clarke turns her head to pat the horse. This turns out to be a mistake as her eyes fall on the man standing behind Octavia. There he is, the man who has her heart. She suddenly feels guilty for accepting the gift. She questions herself. What is wrong with her? Accepting gifts from one and returning gifts to another. She looks at him apologetically, and he tries to smile at her in understanding, but it turns into a grimace. Clarke sighs at this.

Lexa steps up to help Clarke on her horse. Clarke reluctantly takes her hand as she seats herself on the saddle. She had ridden horses a lot with Bellamy, hence, why she doesn't require any assistance. She wanted to leave the commander's hand hanging, to ignore her, to embarrass her, but she didn't because she knew how fragile the alliance was. She needed to save her people.


It is a whole day's journey to Polis, and Clarke knows it will be anything but pleasant. She isn't proven wrong in the slightest. Octavia, who was riding another horse side by side to Clarke, had run out of remarks by the time they had reached the boat clan, which thankfully was only a few miles away from their destination.

Suddenly, she watches Lexa, who was riding in front of her, dismount her horse. They are standing by a lake next to a house. One of Lexa's warriors knocks on the door and returns with a beautiful brown haired beauty.

"Costia, my good friend, how are you?"

"I am good, Lexa. Finally taken a moment to visit me?"

She smiles at her, Clarke looks on in wonderment, who is this woman?

"Costia, I would like you to meet Clarke, my betrothed. "

Clarke is momentarily lost but takes her cue to dismount. Lexa supports her as she gets down, and Clarke feels those goddamn sparks at the contact, yet again. She brings her in front of Costia. Costia receives her in a hug that leaves Clarke surprised beyond words. Grounders hugged?

"It is nice to meet you, soon to be the wife of the Commander. I am Costia, daughter of Luna, the Commander of the boat clan."

"Where are your people?" Clarke can't help but ask, as she looks around the secluded area.

Costia chuckles as she responds, "Believe me, they would have loved to meet you, but our Lexa here, hates all the attention. This is a special path she uses to reach Polis to avoid all the attention."

Clarke looks in her periphery to see Lexa rolling her eyes.

"But do you live here?" Clarke asks, gesturing at the house.

Costia shakes her head and says, "No. I just come out here when I need some alone time or when Lexa calls." She blushes at the Commander, she is so informal with her.

"I am glad the war is over." Costia says in a sincere voice, turning back to Clarke.

"As am I." Clarke replies curtly.

"Well, we must take our leave now. I only wished for you to meet my fiance."

"Sure. It had nothing to do with wanting boats to cross over the river."

"The Commander can have ships at any command," Indra says angrily. So this wasn't how normal folks behaved with the commander, Clarke observes.

"Shop of, Indra." Lexa silences her.

Costia shows them to the boat and they all settle in.

"Bring all the horses to Polis by nightfall." Lexa commands Ryder who nods at her solemnly and walks away with them, presumably taking some longer land route to Polis.

"Thank you, Costia. I hope you will visit Polis soon."

The girl's eyes light up at the attention. Clarke looks between the two, trying to decipher the relationship between the two.

"I hope so too."

"Goodbye, Heda. Goodbye, Sky Heda." She finally shows some respect to the Commander.

Lexa nods and the boat moves towards her home.

Interesting indeed...


After about half an hour, the boat is halted, and the riders, one by one, get out. Clarke and Lexa are the last ones to leave. Lexa, as it was becoming the usual now, offered Clarke assistance. Clarke, without thinking and without any resistance, accepted it.

Clarke caught up with Octavia, and they both followed the grounders into the city. They walked for a few minutes, until they reached their destination.

The Great Commander's home - a palace.

In front of the building, there was a beautiful fountain with 7 sculptures. Lexa saw Clarke looking at them with interest and answered her unvoiced question,

"All the previous commanders."

"Only 7?" Clarke asked curiously.

"No, 14, but the rest are on the back side of the building." Lexa responded impassively.

The interior of the castle was exquisite in an old fashioned kind of way. It was clear that it was an old place, but it's antiqueness made it impressive and grand. The maintenance was also remarkable. Clarke noted how secure the place was. Two guards on every door.

Lexa lead Octavia and Clarke inside, hoping to show them around, but Clarke could was done being polite. She wanted some privacy now.

"Commander, it has been a long journey. I would like to rest now."

Lexa looks at Clarke, a sad smile on her lips, and formally replies,

"Of course. Judith will show you both to your bed chambers. Feel free to rest now. We will have a feast in your honor tonight, if that's okay with you."

Clarke wants to give some hateful reply. What is with everyone and celebrating her defeat? First, at Camp Jaha. Now, here. She is just about to reply when she feels pressure on her hand as Octavia tries to calm her down and remind her of their position.

"Sure. I will be well rested by then."


AN: Reviews and suggestions?

PS- I am sorry but I really didn't have time to edit it. Those of you who follow 'Lost' know how busy I am these days. Those who don't ; University Entrance test galore.