I was going to post this last night, but I was re-reading it and I needed to make a few changes.
I want to thank everyone who have followed the story, I'm glad you are reading and I hope you are liking it.
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I don't own The 100.
Chapter 10
They traveled back towards Polis, but instead of going northeast towards Becca's island they went just North into Azgada. The roads north were not as smooth so they had to go slower in some parts.
The third night in Azgada they stayed in Field. His great grandfather had won it in a battle during the Azgada Civil War. Roan had spent summers there as a child.
He sent word before he left Polis that he was going to be stopping at different places and the approximate date. He was happy to see that his three year absents did not stop his people to follow orders. They got out of the Rover and walked through the door he heard Clarke gasp. Bellamy and Roan turned, Bellamy a little concerned. "What?" Bellamy asked.
"It's a Football Stadium. It was a sport back before the War. I'd watch games with my dad," Clarke rambled on, tears shining in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away.
"This is getting too intense. I'm going to find your bar," Jasper whispers. Clarke stops him pulling his flask out; it's half full so she takes it. "Come on,"
"You can only have 3 drinks," Clarke tells him. Jasper rolls his eyes and head off looking for the bar.
"We're all tired from the road. Dinner will be ready in an hour," Roan says. Roan walks away smile because he has a plan in motion.
Clarke and Bellamy were shown to the same room. They had slept in the same area before, when they went to the supply depot, and on the way to Tondc and a few other times, but never indoors.
"I'm guessing Clarke and I were supposed to share," Octavia chimes in. They walk into an old stadium box the bottom two tiers had small beds and the top tier has a bar and couch.
"Hey, O, give us a minute, please," Bellamy asks quietly. Octavia nods and leaves with Miller. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting…this."
"What?"
Clarke walks over to the glass that overlooks a forest. You could see broken down stadium chairs below, and if you looked really hard you could see the seats across the way. "It wasn't just my father I'd watch football games with. We'd watch all the sports: soccer, baseball, football anything we could get our hands on. He'd always picked the opposite team I was rooting for, I don't know why. Soccer was his favorite, but he liked American football better than Rugby," Clarke rambled.
"Wells." Bellamy didn't question, Clarke nodded turning tears falling down her face.
"It's been almost a year. It's been almost a year since he died." Clarke takes a breath and wiping tears away. "I've accepted that my best friend is dead… but I wasn't expecting this." Bellamy stands next to her, taking in the sight. It was interesting to him how the Earth had reclaimed some structures and not others.
"You're allowed to miss your best friend." They stood there in silence until they were called for dinner.
They got back on the road the day after. Roan didn't mind the drive, but hated not being in control of the vehicle, "at least on a horse, I'm in control," he thought to himself. It seemed easy enough to get the hang of so he watched Bellamy's moves when he could. Latone wasn't as happy with driving as Roan was. He grumbled a lot. Latone didn't trust Clarke at all, Bellamy even less, and he was uneasy with Octavia. The only person he seemed comfortable with was Miller. Miller and he would check the car every morning.
If the weather stayed the same, they were about two days drive to Carnevale Roan's estimated. They were staying at Bassy next and it would be time to break the news to Clarke about Carnevalekru. Roan had observed much of Clarke and Bellamy's relationship. They were more fascinating to him than he wanted to admit and he couldn't stop. Clarke was a strong leader and she took command easily when they were traveling through villages and the others followed, but she always confirmed with Bellamy before releasing information or making a choice. Latone asked constantly why he was so interested in the girl and boy, but Roan never answered him.
They got to Bossy mid-morning. Roan was getting concerned about the weather and if they could continue with the rover or have to switch to horses.
"Latone, get a report from the sky watchers," Roan ordered.
"I'll go too," Octavia chimed in.
"No, O, you're not," Bellamy states.
"You don't give me orders," Octavia argues.
"O!"
"No, I'm going!" Octavia and Latone leave. Latone gives Miller a small shrug.
Clarke was shown to a room where she slept for a few hours than explored the house and grounds. Bassy, is mansion with 20 bedrooms. Half the rooms were not fit to live in because the roof was missing in parts or glass from the windows, or the floor missing. The living room had a large fire place that was lit and kept the bottom floor warm.
The grounds were really nice with what looked like a rose garden. Bellamy joined her in the garden.
"Have you seen Octavia?" Bellamy asked out of breath.
"No, she and Latone aren't back yet. Where's Miller?"
"He had first watch."
"I was sleeping."
"I know."
Clarke found a pure white Rose that was just starting to bloom. She smiled and touched the stem to smell it. The stem had small thorns pop out pricking her. One hit the pad of her ring finger drawing blood. The rose turned dark red almost black. Clarke looked down to her finger and saw black blood come out. Bellamy saw it to.
"Clarke?" He questioned.
"I thought it would go away. Something must have happened when I was hooked up to Ontari," Clarke wiped the blood away and put pressure on it to make it stop bleeding. "Don't tell anyone."
"I won't."
They walk in silence around the shrub maze. Roan watching them from his study.
"You can relax a little. Roan gains nothing by killing me," Clarke tells him.
"Except the power of Wanheda," Bellamy retorted.
"If he wanted my 'power' I'd already be dead."
"He could be waiting for the right time, or to make it look like an accident, or I don't know when I'm least expecting it."
"Bellamy…"
"I let my guard down once and someone I loved died along with 36 others."
They are silent for a moment as they enter the orchard. "Hey, remember when we found that apple orchard," Bellamy smiles.
"It was our saving grace, scaly cat was getting old."
"It wasn't that bad, once… who was it? I don't remember, but she found that herb that made everything taste better."
"Who was that?"
"Was it Fox?" Clarke laughs
"I don't remember." Bellamy laughs with her, until Clarke gets all serious face. Bellamy notices. "What's wrong?" Clarke can't articulate what she's feeling. Bellamy places his hand on her shoulder.
"Is it horrible to say, I miss those days?
"No, but I don't think these days are much different. Just a new enemy to fight."
"Just another day on the ground?"
"Something like that."
Clarke smiles a weak smile before wiping tears away. They continue their way through the orchards.
xXx
Dinner is served in a small dining room off the living room. Octavia and Latone hadn't returned, but Roan said that he hadn't expected them to be back for another few hours.
"I'd like you to come to my study after dinner, Clarke," Roan tells Clarke. "Alone."
"No," Bellamy says.
"Bellamy…" Clarke warns.
"No, Clarke, you're not going alone," Bellamy says. "You can take Miller or me."
"What about me?" Jasper asks taking a drink from his flask.
"Are you sober?" Bellamy asks him angrily.
"Of course not," Jasper laughs.
"Then no. Me or Miller."
"Sure, Bellamy, come to the meeting. Protect the damsel in no distress," Roan quips.
"You had a sword to her throat…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… I tied you to a post and put a sword to her throat in Polis. Get over it."
"Kinky," Miller says under his breath. Bellamy hears and gives a stern look at him.
Clarke chooses Bellamy. Roan is not surprised. "I've not heard that word before 'Kinky,' what does it mean?" Roan asks causing Jasper to spit out his drink chocking on laughter.
xXx
Roan sits behind a hard wood desk. The sconces on the wall are lit as well as a few candles on the desk. There is a love seat in the center of the room.
Clarke knocks on the door. Bellamy enters first looking around before motioning for Clarke to come in.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" Roan asks Bellamy.
"The guard."
They all stand in silence for a moment. Roan is seeing who will break the silence first. After 3 minutes of silence Clarke speaks up. "What is this about, Roan?"
Roan smiles that Clarke doesn't like silence.
"Carnevalekre," Roan tells them.
"What about them?" Bellamy asks his back going up like a cat when faced with a predator.
"You will have to do a few things before they help you," Roan starts.
"Like what?" Clarke asks accepting there were hoops to jump through.
"Carnevalekre are believers in marriage," Roan states. Clarke and Bellamy are really confused.
"Then my Mom should have come, or Jaha, they both have been married."
"You misunderstand, they believe in the political marriage. You have to marry one of your people and you'll have to marry one of theirs," Roan explains.
Clarke and Bellamy are shocked at the revelation. "You'll marry me as one of your people and then you'll pick from a group of people they choose." Roan watches them as the information sets in.
"You're not one of her people," Bellamy tells him.
"You're part of the coalition, we're all her people," Roan challenges.
"Bellamy," Clarke says in a small voice.
"She can marry Miller or Jasper or…" Bellamy challenges back.
"Or you?" Roan asks.
"What do you mean a political marriage? I don't understand that term," Clarke asks him. Roan stares at her like she's lying to him.
"Political marriage, when you marry someone to raise ones standing in the leadership of the people," Roan explains like this concept is common sense. "Like the house we're standing in once belonged to a leader who controlled land until the 'Re'al border, my great grandfather married his daughter so they could combine their lands and so on and so forth."
Clarke crumples onto the love seat. She is breathing hard. Bellamy takes a breath; he really wants to beat Roan until he was unconscious.
Roan watched her; it shocks him that this is the thing that is breaking her. He has heard stories of facing down Anya trying for peace; she stood up to the mountain men. Why is marriage the thing that breaks her?
"Clarke you don't have to do this," Bellamy tells her kneeling in front of her.
"You…I… We don't even know if they can help us," Clarke states.
"They will only share information…" Roan tells them.
"You didn't think to tell us this before we left?" Bellamy asks invading Roans personal space. Clarke starts to stand but her legs won't hold her up, her hands start to shake. "Why would she marry you? There were others in Arkadia that she could have brought to marry."
"Bellamy," Clarke says trying to get her emotions under control.
"She wouldn't be able to marry someone who wouldn't raise her power. Marrying me would give her more power of all the people," Roan explains.
"This isn't about her! It's about you! You're trying to use her symbol as Wanheda to gain power over the people. You're not killing her you're, but it's the same thing."
"They force marriage on people to work with them. Why?" Clarke asks trying to understand.
They are all quiet for a moment. "They believe marriage creates a bond between you and the person and the earth. The marriage to the person in their clan they believe will bind you to their people. It makes a stronger drive to do what's right."
"Am I expected to produce children in this 'marriage'?"
Bellamy hadn't even thought about that.
"Clarke?" Bellamy pleads.
"Bellamy," Clarke breaths. Bellamy and Clarke lock eyes; Clarke has a calm resolve of 'this is just one more thing I have to do to save my people' look, and Bellamy has a 'this is too much to save our people." For Bellamy, the room suddenly started to feel very small. Roan notices Bellamy's sudden reaction to the question and recognized the look. Roan starts to say something. "I'm getting some air," Bellamy breaths.
"Bellamy!" Calls Clarke getting up to leave. Roan stops her.
"Let him go, he needs time," Roan tells her.
"He needs time? Ya' think? I need time to process it. But of course you didn't think to tell me this before we left home. No, you decided to be dramatic. Now it's snowing out and Octavia isn't back yet and…" Clarke tries to catch her breath. "I'm going to get some air."
Clarke stands on a small patio near the rose garden. She's been outside for about 30 minutes. She's getting cold, but the idea of going back inside is too much. Roan has been watching her through the window since she walked out to the patio; Clarke can feel his eyes.
Jasper (and his flask) and Miller join her on the patio. "We need to find Bellamy, he's been gone too long," Clarke says dejectedly. Miller nods and leaves.
"So congratulations are in order?" Jasper asks taking a sip. Clarke takes his flask and drinks as much as she can before chocking. "Take it easy there."
"Clarke!" Miller shouts from the orchard. "Clarke!"
"What?"
"Bellamy! He's in a lake, I can't get him out," Miller shouts back.
"Roan! I need some of your people. NOW!" Clarke gets to Miller as soon as possible and they run to where Bellamy is.
The lake is like glass and Bellamy is about ten feet from water's edge. He's treading water but sinking fast. Clarke starts to runs to the edge, estimating if she can get to him without breaking the ice. Bellamy sinks below the water. "Bellamy!" Clarke shouts Bellamy resurfaces for a moment gasping for breath and starts to sink again. Clarke starts to step on the ice, but Roan and his people have gotten there and he stops her. "I need to get to him!"
"He's lost, you cannot save him," Roan argues.
"I don't accept that," Clarke says stepping gingerly on the ice. She gets about two feet in when her center of gravity starts to make her slide on the ice. Roan gives his people the command to stop her and save Bellamy.
Roan's people slip on snow shoes. Three men walk on the ice; one grabs Clarke and brings her back to the edge while the other two get Bellamy.
Octavia and Latone join the group on the shore. Latone realizes what's going on first and goes up to Roan, "My King," he says in grounder. "Why are we risking lives when we know he will die from ice blood?" Roan doesn't answer. They pull Bellamy out of the water and bring him to shore. He's not breathing.
"What the hell is going on?" Octavia asks
"He's gone, Clarke." Roan says to her. Octavia starts crying and Jasper comforts her. Clarke is on her knees checking for breathing and a pulse. He has a weak pulse, his lips are turning blue, and he's not breathing.
"Lay him flat." Miller helps get Bellamy flat. Roan watches as Clarke lifts his chin, pinch his nose, and breathe into his mouth. Octavia and Jasper watch her both hoping she can bring him back.
"I don't think kissing him will bring him back," Roan grunts. Clarke ignores him as she continues to breathe into his mouth until he starts coughing. Roan's people watch her with reverence as she rolls him on his side as he coughs up water. Roan signals Latone to grab a stretcher. He returns in moments. Clarke is catching her breath trying to stay calm.
"Get him inside," Clarke orders, no one moves. "Now!"
Miller and Latone get Bellamy onto the stretcher and head to the house. "Jasper in my room is a med kit, get it. Roan I need at least 6 blankets in the room with the fire place. Do you have salt?" Roan looks at her like he doesn't understand her. "Roan, do you have salt?"
"Yeah, in the smoke house," Roan replies.
"Okay, I need you to boil a table spoon of salt to a quart of water then add snow or ice to cool it down so it's warm to the touch, but not boiling," Clarke explains. Roan tells his people to get what Clarke asks for.
Miller and Latone bring Bellamy into the living room, he is somewhat awake but not really, he's just shaking a lot and trying to keep his eyes open. He's never been this cold before. He can't feel his fingers or toes and ice is forming in his hair. "Clarke, what are you going to do?" Octavia asks. "Can you save him?" Latone leaves as Roan watches from the shadow of the hall.
"I need my med kit to answer that. Jasper! Hurry!" Clarke yells up the stairs. Octavia runs up the stairs to speed Jasper up. "Miller, we need to get him out of these wet clothes."
Clarke moves over to Bellamy trying to peel his wet jacket off of him. He's shivering so much she's having trouble. She kneels down in front of him to look him in the eye, he's barely conscious. "I need you to stay with me," she whispers.
"I…mmm trrr…trr… ying. Sss Ka, coooooldddd," he shivers out.
"I know," she says trying to disconnect herself from the situation and failing. "I need you." Miller gets the jacket off and starts pulling his shirt off too. Bellamy starts to lose consciousness again. When Bellamy's topless Clarke pulls off his shoes. "Can you stand? Bellamy!" She yells smacking his face. "Come on, Bellamy, stay with me," she begs. Octavia and Jasper enter the room with both big and small med kits. Octavia sees her brother half naked and doesn't understand.
"Clarke, what the hell are you doing?" Octavia asks.
"I need to get him out of these wet clothes so I can warm him up," Clarke explains working the buttons on Bellamy's pants and sliding them off with Millers help.
One of Roan's people returns with the blankets. Bellamy regains consciousness.
"Prince…cold," Bellamy mumbles. Clarke grabs a thermometer from the med kit.
"I know. Lift your tongue." Clarke puts the thermometer in his mouth. "You, with the blankets, what's your name?"
"Egon," he answers.
"Egon, pile three of those blankets on the floor right there, one on top of the other," she orders pointing to about three feet in front of the fire. Egon does as she asks.
She checks the thermometer it reads 32.94 C/ 91.3F. Clarke checks his pulse, it's getting stronger. "Okay this is a good thing."
"How is that a good thing? He's freezing," Octavia asks reading the thermometer.
"He's in Moderate hypothermia without heart complications, which means we just have to warm him up slowly and he'll be fine." Clarke explains. "I need that saline as soon as possible. Miller, go with her." Miller looked like he was going to argue, but didn't and left. "Get him on the blankets," she orders Jasper and Egon.
They do that as she starts to strip her own clothing. Jasper sees what she's doing.
"Clarke?" He asks.
"Body heat will help warm him up and the contact will help steady the heart, or that's the theory," she explains removing her pants.
"Theory?"
"Yes, Jasper, we had other resources on the Ark to deal with this, I have none of those here," Clarke says lying next to Bellamy. "Cover us with the remaining three blankets and find me two more and a couple of pillows if you have them, please Egon." Egon hands a couple of couch pillows to Clarke. Clarke puts one for her head and has Jasper lift Bellamy's head to put one for him. Bellamy is still shivering.
"Cl…ar…ke," Bellamy shakes out.
"It's going to be okay, I'm just going to warm you up," Clarke explains as she takes his pulse again. She pulls him towards her wrapping herself around him as much as possible under the blanket.
"Go-od iii-d-ya" Bellamy says pulling her closer to him. She pulls his hands to her armpits and clamps her arms down as she rubs his muscular arms.
Octavia and Miller return the saline, Clarke test the temperature and it's still too hot.
"It needs to be cooler. Take the thermometer and when the water is at 96F then put it in the I.V bag." Octavia leaves again. "It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay," she repeats over and over again.
Roan has watched everything and was impressed, and not for the first time, with how Clarke handles the situation. He's never seen anyone go to such lengths to save one person and he's never seen anyone come back from ice blood. It's obvious that Bellamy is special to Clarke and vice versa. Bellamy reacted like he, Roan, was killing him when he said Clarke would marry himself. Their culture allows for a love match, but they are always with different people. He still needed Clarke. Marrying Wanheda would gain him power to rule the people, but she had to agree to it."
About an hour later, Clarke checked Bellamy's temperature again, he had gained a degree and his heart rate was holding steady. Egon retuned with more blankets, what seemed like every blanket in the house and added one at Clarke's orders.
She abandoned the saline when she couldn't get it to the right temperature after 3 attempts and Bellamy was warming up without it and not having heart issues. She did have him drink hot salt water, so she could keep his electrolytes in balance as he warmed up.
After a few hours she sent Miller and Jasper to bed. Octavia refused to leave the room so she slept on the couch. Egon left at Roan insistence. It was going to be a long 10
They traveled back towards Polis, but instead of going northeast towards Becca's island they went just North into Azgada. The roads north were not as smooth so they had to go slower in some parts.
The third night in Azgada they stayed in Field. His great grandfather had won it in a battle during the Azgada Civil War. Roan had spent summers there as a child.
He sent word before he left Polis that he was going to be stopping at different places and the approximate date. He was happy to see that his three year absents did not stop his people to follow orders. They got out of the Rover and walked through the door he heard Clarke gasp. Bellamy and Roan turned, Bellamy a little concerned. "What?" Bellamy asked.
"It's a Football Stadium. It was a sport back before the War. I'd watch games with my dad," Clarke rambled on, tears shining in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away.
"This is getting too intense. I'm going to find your bar," Jasper whispers. Clarke stops him pulling his flask out; it's half full so she takes it. "Come on,"
"You can only have 3 drinks," Clarke tells him. Jasper rolls his eyes and head off looking for the bar.
"We're all tired from the road. Dinner will be ready in an hour," Roan says. Roan walks away smile because he has a plan in motion.
Clarke and Bellamy were shown to the same room. They had slept in the same area before, when they went to the supply depot, and on the way to Tondc and a few other times, but never indoors.
"I'm guessing Clarke and I were supposed to share," Octavia chimes in. They walk into an old stadium box the bottom two tiers had small beds and the top tier has a bar and couch.
"Hey, O, give us a minute, please," Bellamy asks quietly. Octavia nods and leaves with Miller. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting…this."
"What?"
Clarke walks over to the glass that overlooks a forest. You could see broken down stadium chairs below, and if you looked really hard you could see the seats across the way. "It wasn't just my father I'd watch football games with. We'd watch all the sports: soccer, baseball, football anything we could get our hands on. He'd always picked the opposite team I was rooting for, I don't know why. Soccer was his favorite, but he liked American football better than Rugby," Clarke rambled.
"Wells." Bellamy didn't question, Clarke nodded turning tears falling down her face.
"It's been almost a year. It's been almost a year since he died." Clarke takes a breath and wiping tears away. "I've accepted that my best friend is dead… but I wasn't expecting this." Bellamy stands next to her, taking in the sight. It was interesting to him how the Earth had reclaimed some structures and not others.
"You're allowed to miss your best friend." They stood there in silence until they were called for dinner.
They got back on the road the day after. Roan didn't mind the drive, but hated not being in control of the vehicle, "at least on a horse, I'm in control," he thought to himself. It seemed easy enough to get the hang of so he watched Bellamy's moves when he could. Latone wasn't as happy with driving as Roan was. He grumbled a lot. Latone didn't trust Clarke at all, Bellamy even less, and he was uneasy with Octavia. The only person he seemed comfortable with was Miller. Miller and he would check the car every morning.
If the weather stayed the same, they were about two days drive to Carnevale Roan's estimated. They were staying at Bassy next and it would be time to break the news to Clarke about Carnevalekru. Roan had observed much of Clarke and Bellamy's relationship. They were more fascinating to him than he wanted to admit and he couldn't stop. Clarke was a strong leader and she took command easily when they were traveling through villages and the others followed, but she always confirmed with Bellamy before releasing information or making a choice. Latone asked constantly why he was so interested in the girl and boy, but Roan never answered him.
They got to Bossy mid-morning. Roan was getting concerned about the weather and if they could continue with the rover or have to switch to horses.
"Latone, get a report from the sky watchers," Roan ordered.
"I'll go too," Octavia chimed in.
"No, O, you're not," Bellamy states.
"You don't give me orders," Octavia argues.
"O!"
"No, I'm going!" Octavia and Latone leave. Latone gives Miller a small shrug.
Clarke was shown to a room where she slept for a few hours than explored the house and grounds. Bassy, is mansion with 20 bedrooms. Half the rooms were not fit to live in because the roof was missing in parts or glass from the windows, or the floor missing. The living room had a large fire place that was lit and kept the bottom floor warm.
The grounds were really nice with what looked like a rose garden. Bellamy joined her in the garden.
"Have you seen Octavia?" Bellamy asked out of breath.
"No, she and Latone aren't back yet. Where's Miller?"
"He had first watch."
"I was sleeping."
"I know."
Clarke found a pure white Rose that was just starting to bloom. She smiled and touched the stem to smell it. The stem had small thorns pop out pricking her. One hit the pad of her ring finger drawing blood. The rose turned dark red almost black. Clarke looked down to her finger and saw black blood come out. Bellamy saw it to.
"Clarke?" He questioned.
"I thought it would go away. Something must have happened when I was hooked up to Ontari," Clarke wiped the blood away and put pressure on it to make it stop bleeding. "Don't tell anyone."
"I won't."
They walk in silence around the shrub maze. Roan watching them from his study.
"You can relax a little. Roan gains nothing by killing me," Clarke tells him.
"Except the power of Wanheda," Bellamy retorted.
"If he wanted my 'power' I'd already be dead."
"He could be waiting for the right time, or to make it look like an accident, or I don't know when I'm least expecting it."
"Bellamy…"
"I let my guard down once and someone I loved died along with 36 others."
They are silent for a moment as they enter the orchard. "Hey, remember when we found that apple orchard," Bellamy smiles.
"It was our saving grace, scaly cat was getting old."
"It wasn't that bad, once… who was it? I don't remember, but she found that herb that made everything taste better."
"Who was that?"
"Was it Fox?" Clarke laughs
"I don't remember." Bellamy laughs with her, until Clarke gets all serious face. Bellamy notices. "What's wrong?" Clarke can't articulate what she's feeling. Bellamy places his hand on her shoulder.
"Is it horrible to say, I miss those days?
"No, but I don't think these days are much different. Just a new enemy to fight."
"Just another day on the ground?"
"Something like that."
Clarke smiles a weak smile before wiping tears away. They continue their way through the orchards.
xXx
Dinner is served in a small dining room off the living room. Octavia and Latone hadn't returned, but Roan said that he hadn't expected them to be back for another few hours.
"I'd like you to come to my study after dinner, Clarke," Roan tells Clarke. "Alone."
"No," Bellamy says.
"Bellamy…" Clarke warns.
"No, Clarke, you're not going alone," Bellamy says. "You can take Miller or me."
"What about me?" Jasper asks taking a drink from his flask.
"Are you sober?" Bellamy asks him angrily.
"Of course not," Jasper laughs.
"Then no. Me or Miller."
"Sure, Bellamy, come to the meeting. Protect the damsel in no distress," Roan quips.
"You had a sword to her throat…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… I tied you to a post and put a sword to her throat in Polis. Get over it."
"Kinky," Miller says under his breath. Bellamy hears and gives a stern look at him.
Clarke chooses Bellamy. Roan is not surprised. "I've not heard that word before 'Kinky,' what does it mean?" Roan asks causing Jasper to spit out his drink chocking on laughter.
xXx
Roan sits behind a hard wood desk. The sconces on the wall are lit as well as a few candles on the desk. There is a love seat in the center of the room.
Clarke knocks on the door. Bellamy enters first looking around before motioning for Clarke to come in.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" Roan asks Bellamy.
"The guard."
They all stand in silence for a moment. Roan is seeing who will break the silence first. After 3 minutes of silence Clarke speaks up. "What is this about, Roan?"
Roan smiles that Clarke doesn't like silence.
"Carnevalekre," Roan tells them.
"What about them?" Bellamy asks his back going up like a cat when faced with a predator.
"You will have to do a few things before they help you," Roan starts.
"Like what?" Clarke asks accepting there were hoops to jump through.
"Carnevalekre are believers in marriage," Roan states. Clarke and Bellamy are really confused.
"Then my Mom should have come, or Jaha, they both have been married."
"You misunderstand, they believe in the political marriage. You have to marry one of your people and you'll have to marry one of theirs," Roan explains.
Clarke and Bellamy are shocked at the revelation. "You'll marry me as one of your people and then you'll pick from a group of people they choose." Roan watches them as the information sets in.
"You're not one of her people," Bellamy tells him.
"You're part of the coalition, we're all her people," Roan challenges.
"Bellamy," Clarke says in a small voice.
"She can marry Miller or Jasper or…" Bellamy challenges back.
"Or you?" Roan asks.
"What do you mean a political marriage? I don't understand that term," Clarke asks him. Roan stares at her like she's lying to him.
"Political marriage, when you marry someone to raise ones standing in the leadership of the people," Roan explains like this concept is common sense. "Like the house we're standing in once belonged to a leader who controlled land until the 'Re'al border, my great grandfather married his daughter so they could combine their lands and so on and so forth."
Clarke crumples onto the love seat. She is breathing hard. Bellamy takes a breath; he really wants to beat Roan until he was unconscious.
Roan watched her; it shocks him that this is the thing that is breaking her. He has heard stories of facing down Anya trying for peace; she stood up to the mountain men. Why is marriage the thing that breaks her?
"Clarke you don't have to do this," Bellamy tells her kneeling in front of her.
"You…I… We don't even know if they can help us," Clarke states.
"They will only share information…" Roan tells them.
"You didn't think to tell us this before we left?" Bellamy asks invading Roans personal space. Clarke starts to stand but her legs won't hold her up, her hands start to shake. "Why would she marry you? There were others in Arkadia that she could have brought to marry."
"Bellamy," Clarke says trying to get her emotions under control.
"She wouldn't be able to marry someone who wouldn't raise her power. Marrying me would give her more power of all the people," Roan explains.
"This isn't about her! It's about you! You're trying to use her symbol as Wanheda to gain power over the people. You're not killing her you're, but it's the same thing."
"They force marriage on people to work with them. Why?" Clarke asks trying to understand.
They are all quiet for a moment. "They believe marriage creates a bond between you and the person and the earth. The marriage to the person in their clan they believe will bind you to their people. It makes a stronger drive to do what's right."
"Am I expected to produce children in this 'marriage'?"
Bellamy hadn't even thought about that.
"Clarke?" Bellamy pleads.
"Bellamy," Clarke breaths. Bellamy and Clarke lock eyes; Clarke has a calm resolve of 'this is just one more thing I have to do to save my people' look, and Bellamy has a 'this is too much to save our people." For Bellamy, the room suddenly started to feel very small. Roan notices Bellamy's sudden reaction to the question and recognized the look. Roan starts to say something. "I'm getting some air," Bellamy breaths.
"Bellamy!" Calls Clarke getting up to leave. Roan stops her.
"Let him go, he needs time," Roan tells her.
"He needs time? Ya' think? I need time to process it. But of course you didn't think to tell me this before we left home. No, you decided to be dramatic. Now it's snowing out and Octavia isn't back yet and…" Clarke tries to catch her breath. "I'm going to get some air."
Clarke stands on a small patio near the rose garden. She's been outside for about 30 minutes. She's getting cold, but the idea of going back inside is too much. Roan has been watching her through the window since she walked out to the patio; Clarke can feel his eyes.
Jasper (and his flask) and Miller join her on the patio. "We need to find Bellamy, he's been gone too long," Clarke says dejectedly. Miller nods and leaves.
"So congratulations are in order?" Jasper asks taking a sip. Clarke takes his flask and drinks as much as she can before chocking. "Take it easy there."
"Clarke!" Miller shouts from the orchard. "Clarke!"
"What?"
"Bellamy! He's in a lake, I can't get him out," Miller shouts back.
"Roan! I need some of your people. NOW!" Clarke gets to Miller as soon as possible and they run to where Bellamy is.
The lake is like glass and Bellamy is about ten feet from water's edge. He's treading water but sinking fast. Clarke starts to runs to the edge, estimating if she can get to him without breaking the ice. Bellamy sinks below the water. "Bellamy!" Clarke shouts Bellamy resurfaces for a moment gasping for breath and starts to sink again. Clarke starts to step on the ice, but Roan and his people have gotten there and he stops her. "I need to get to him!"
"He's lost, you cannot save him," Roan argues.
"I don't accept that," Clarke says stepping gingerly on the ice. She gets about two feet in when her center of gravity starts to make her slide on the ice. Roan gives his people the command to stop her and save Bellamy.
Roan's people slip on snow shoes. Three men walk on the ice; one grabs Clarke and brings her back to the edge while the other two get Bellamy.
Octavia and Latone join the group on the shore. Latone realizes what's going on first and goes up to Roan, "My King," he says in grounder. "Why are we risking lives when we know he will die from ice blood?" Roan doesn't answer. They pull Bellamy out of the water and bring him to shore. He's not breathing.
"What the hell is going on?" Octavia asks
"He's gone, Clarke." Roan says to her. Octavia starts crying and Jasper comforts her. Clarke is on her knees checking for breathing and a pulse. He has a weak pulse, his lips are turning blue, and he's not breathing.
"Lay him flat." Miller helps get Bellamy flat. Roan watches as Clarke lifts his chin, pinch his nose, and breathe into his mouth. Octavia and Jasper watch her both hoping she can bring him back.
"I don't think kissing him will bring him back," Roan grunts. Clarke ignores him as she continues to breathe into his mouth until he starts coughing. Roan's people watch her with reverence as she rolls him on his side as he coughs up water. Roan signals Latone to grab a stretcher. He returns in moments. Clarke is catching her breath trying to stay calm.
"Get him inside," Clarke orders, no one moves. "Now!"
Miller and Latone get Bellamy onto the stretcher and head to the house. "Jasper in my room is a med kit, get it. Roan I need at least 6 blankets in the room with the fire place. Do you have salt?" Roan looks at her like he doesn't understand her. "Roan, do you have salt?"
"Yeah, in the smoke house," Roan replies.
"Okay, I need you to boil a table spoon of salt to a quart of water then add snow or ice to cool it down so it's warm to the touch, but not boiling," Clarke explains. Roan tells his people to get what Clarke asks for.
Miller and Latone bring Bellamy into the living room, he is somewhat awake but not really, he's just shaking a lot and trying to keep his eyes open. He's never been this cold before. He can't feel his fingers or toes and ice is forming in his hair. "Clarke, what are you going to do?" Octavia asks. "Can you save him?" Latone leaves as Roan watches from the shadow of the hall.
"I need my med kit to answer that. Jasper! Hurry!" Clarke yells up the stairs. Octavia runs up the stairs to speed Jasper up. "Miller, we need to get him out of these wet clothes."
Clarke moves over to Bellamy trying to peel his wet jacket off of him. He's shivering so much she's having trouble. She kneels down in front of him to look him in the eye, he's barely conscious. "I need you to stay with me," she whispers.
"I…mmm trrr…trr… ying. Sss Ka, coooooldddd," he shivers out.
"I know," she says trying to disconnect herself from the situation and failing. "I need you." Miller gets the jacket off and starts pulling his shirt off too. Bellamy starts to lose consciousness again. When Bellamy's topless Clarke pulls off his shoes. "Can you stand? Bellamy!" She yells smacking his face. "Come on, Bellamy, stay with me," she begs. Octavia and Jasper enter the room with both big and small med kits. Octavia sees her brother half naked and doesn't understand.
"Clarke, what the hell are you doing?" Octavia asks.
"I need to get him out of these wet clothes so I can warm him up," Clarke explains working the buttons on Bellamy's pants and sliding them off with Millers help.
One of Roan's people returns with the blankets. Bellamy regains consciousness.
"Prince…cold," Bellamy mumbles. Clarke grabs a thermometer from the med kit.
"I know. Lift your tongue." Clarke puts the thermometer in his mouth. "You, with the blankets, what's your name?"
"Egon," he answers.
"Egon, pile three of those blankets on the floor right there, one on top of the other," she orders pointing to about three feet in front of the fire. Egon does as she asks.
She checks the thermometer it reads 32.94 C/ 91.3F. Clarke checks his pulse, it's getting stronger. "Okay this is a good thing."
"How is that a good thing? He's freezing," Octavia asks reading the thermometer.
"He's in Moderate hypothermia without heart complications, which means we just have to warm him up slowly and he'll be fine." Clarke explains. "I need that saline as soon as possible. Miller, go with her." Miller looked like he was going to argue, but didn't and left. "Get him on the blankets," she orders Jasper and Egon.
They do that as she starts to strip her own clothing. Jasper sees what she's doing.
"Clarke?" He asks.
"Body heat will help warm him up and the contact will help steady the heart, or that's the theory," she explains removing her pants.
"Theory?"
"Yes, Jasper, we had other resources on the Ark to deal with this, I have none of those here," Clarke says lying next to Bellamy. "Cover us with the remaining three blankets and find me two more and a couple of pillows if you have them, please Egon." Egon hands a couple of couch pillows to Clarke. Clarke puts one for her head and has Jasper lift Bellamy's head to put one for him. Bellamy is still shivering.
"Cl…ar…ke," Bellamy shakes out.
"It's going to be okay, I'm just going to warm you up," Clarke explains as she takes his pulse again. She pulls him towards her wrapping herself around him as much as possible under the blanket.
"Go-od iii-d-ya" Bellamy says pulling her closer to him. She pulls his hands to her armpits and clamps her arms down as she rubs his muscular arms.
Octavia and Miller return the saline, Clarke test the temperature and it's still too hot.
"It needs to be cooler. Take the thermometer and when the water is at 96F then put it in the I.V bag." Octavia leaves again. "It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay," she repeats over and over again.
Roan has watched everything and was impressed, and not for the first time, with how Clarke handles the situation. He's never seen anyone go to such lengths to save one person and he's never seen anyone come back from ice blood. It's obvious that Bellamy is special to Clarke and vice versa. Bellamy reacted like he, Roan, was killing him when he said Clarke would marry himself. Their culture allows for a love match, but they are always with different people. He still needed Clarke. Marrying Wanheda would gain him power to rule the people, but she had to agree to it."
About an hour later, Clarke checked Bellamy's temperature again, he had gained a degree and his heart rate was holding steady. Egon retuned with more blankets, what seemed like every blanket in the house and added one at Clarke's orders.
She abandoned the saline when she couldn't get it to the right temperature after 3 attempts and Bellamy was warming up without it and not having heart issues. She did have him drink hot salt water, so she could keep his electrolytes in balance as he warmed up.
After a few hours she sent Miller and Jasper to bed. Octavia refused to leave the room so she slept on the couch. Egon left at Roan insistence. It was going to be a long night.