Chapter 56
They stood outside the crematory. Octavia's council stood with them. Ethan's funeral had been a solemn affair. Gaia and Clarke officiated. Octavia stood there as they loaded his body into the vault, stoically, with no emotion, but Clarke could tell that she wanted to break down. She would help her again later but for now, they were all going to deal with the natrona Kara Kouper and all of the branwada that had followed her in this new coup.
She reached across the expanse that was separating them and took Octavia's left hand in her right. She knew that Octavia was thankful for her being on her left. It meant that they were both protecting their "weak" sides. She was surprised when Indra and Gaia took flanking positions to their rear. Madi walked up and put her hand in Octavia's right. She wasn't guarding her idol. She was simply being their for her.
Clarke couldn't help but be proud of her daughter. She knew that Madi felt things. She'd taught her that it was okay to show it. Madi might have the black blood and the ability to be the next true Heda if she was allowed to be, but Clarke hadn't been feeding her the same bullshit that Titus had been giving the natblida for years. She wasn't going to let Madi grow up to be an unfeeling statue that only thought about war and battle. No, Clarke made sure to teach her many things, including the arts, or what she could of them with the little bit of resources that they'd had in Eden.
Clarke wasn't a fool though. She knew that Harper, Miller and Monty were near by as well. Harper was probably armed. Miller was most assuredly armed had already told his most trusted guards to protect the hallways from the crematory down into the Cells. Indra already had men stationed around the bunker in preparation of a possible uprising. But, through it all, they were all together, a united front. No one was going to bring down Wonkru from the inside. At least not on their watch. They would all die first.
As they neared the Cells, Clarke felt her heart start to race. She looked over to Octavia and saw the flashes between anger and sadness. She could tell that Octavia was purposefully making herself mad. She was turning back into Blodreina. Clarke would let her have this for now. She would turn her back into the Osleya when they were alone. She reached over with her left hand and took Octavia's right in it. She could feel the tenseness in her fingers. She'd been watching grip and regrip her sword hilt as they got closer.
"Be angry," Clarke whispered to her.
Octavia turned and looked at her.
"It is a mother's right. Be angry. It's justified," Clarke told her as Octavia came to a stop and they turned to face each other. "Just remember that Blodreina will turn back into their Osleya. You can be cold and heartless. Just like she was. But, we both know that you aren't. So, do what you must. Become the the Mama Bear, but know that I'll be there to bring you back when we're done."
"Mochof," Octavia said quietly as she leaned a little into Clarke.
"Pro," Clarke answered. "Now, let's give our people justice."
Octavia nodded. She straightened up and cracked her neck. She looked over at Miller and Indra.
"Are the people assembled?"
"Sha, Osleya," Indra told her.
"Good. Miller, open the cells. Guards, secure the accused."
"Sha, ai Osleya. The poles are ready topside, too. The people have been prepared."
"Good," Octavia replied.
Her eyes went hard. She was fixated on the cell in front of her. She was staring down the door as Miller moved. She could barely make out the other guards moving to other doors. In all, she didn't care. She just saw them all as natrona, and she knew that they would all pay for their crimes.
Cooper stood as soon as the door opened. She was dressed in black. The clothes hung a little more loosely than they had before Octavia sent inside. Her eyes quickly flicked around the crowd before her. Octavia knew the moment that Cooper realized she was going to die. She slumped further into Miller and London's grasp as they pulled her from the cell. Her dark eyes flicked up to Octavia's green.
"They're dead, aren't they?"
"You should know. You killed them," Octavia told her, venom in her voice. "Five people murdered for your need for power. Five live who's fight ended because you betrayed your people. And, for what? Just to get to me?"
Cooper didn't answer. She just let her body weight drop. Octavia watched her do.
"Drag her," Octavia told them. "She's refusing to come peacefully. And don't worry about any injuries. In a few hours, none of them will matter anyway."
She turned, cape flying around her and headed back out of the corridor. Guards fell in line behind her. Clarke running to catch up, but making sure to get back by her side. It took them no time to make their way to the surface. Octavia's forceful power walk left Clarke wanting, but she kept herself in check as she watched Octavia step onto a small dias that had been hastily built for this occasion.
Clarke studied the crowd. She couldn't help herself. These were all now her people. To be honest, they had always been hers while she had been with Lexa, but now that she was officially with Octavia, even the people didn't fully realize it yet, Wonkru was her home, her people, her responsibility. She was proud of the people. They had let Octavia and Clarke mourn in peace the night before. (She couldn't help but smile at how they mourned.) But, while their leaders were dealing with their grief, they had arranged everything that was needed for the public judgement and execution of Cooper and her followers.
Clarke wondered if she should step up there with Octavia, but the decision was made for her as soon as Octavia began to speak. She, herself, never thought of herself as a great orator, but she was captivated by the words that Octavia was speaking. She couldn't help but make the comparison to Lexa and the bolstering speeches that she made before the attack on Mount Weather. Octavia was full of passion and vitriol as she spewed her words of hatred towards one of her formal council members. Clarke caught herself nodding along and waiting for the words "KOM WOR!" to leave her mouth.
"Wonkru, you've all been called her today to witness justice being done. I told you months ago that we could no longer make every crime a capital offense. Each crime would be brought to me and the council. We would weigh each one and decide if anyone was grave enough as offense to have the accused put in the Pits. But, since we've all be reborn of the Earth, I abolished the Pit.
"Long ago, our ancestors decided that those who betrayed their people, their clan, their kru, would be punished by a thousand cuts. Today, I have one such natrona among us. Kara Kouper kom nokru. I've already striped her of the protections of Wonkru and banished her. She's been residing in the Cells until the council and I could come up with a fitting punishment for the crimes that she committed against us all," Octavia paused here.
She looked over the crowd. Clarke could tell that she was looking for something or some one. Finally, her eyes must have landed on what she needed because she started to speak again.
"We've already accepted Klark kom Wonkru, oso Wanheda, Monti kom Wonkru, oso branon ponisaheda, Hapa kom Wonkru, ai branon gonaheda kom Polis, en ai bro, Belomi kom Wonkru. They have proven their worth to us in these past few days since they have come back to Earth. Wanheda and I promised you that we would take back Shallow Valley, that we would conquer Eden and give it back to our people, to Wonkru. And, we shall.
"Cooper couldn't wait for our time to go. She poisoned the ponis. She tried to poison us all by letting the farm die. She didn't follow the protocols that were put into place to make sure that we could survive beyond the originally planned five years. She did this on her own and without my consent. I would never have put the people in danger. These crimes had been going on since almost the beginning of us being shut into bunker. And, I admit that it is partially my fault. I allowed her to have the power to do, by not keeping her in check and not understanding a lot about the ponis and how it worked. Monty showed it all to me and what she had done. Once, I knew what she had done, I asked Monty to dig deeper and find out what else she might have done to us all," Octavia explained. She paused again to make sure that the crowd was still with her.
They could all see the anger building among them. They would demand her blood, and Octavia would willingly give it to them. She'd already told them that.
"Monty," she called into the crowd.
He stepped forward. The people all parted as he moved. Guards following him. Harper looked to Octavia to see if she should follow, but a quick head movement told her to wait, her time was coming. At the edge of the dias, he knelt and then looked up at Octavia. As soon as green met black eyes, her hand reached out to raise him. She pulled him, literally, up onto the dias with her.
"Monti kom Wonkru, oso ponisheda," she introduced him to the people more formally. Indra reached up with a hastily made pauldron for him. Octavia took it and made a show of clipping it on him. "I have tasked Monty with reviving the farm. We will need it. We cannot survive on what little bit of land is still in Eden. Wanheda and I have discussed leaving Polis manned. And, we will. Monty will heal the Earth and help us grow food. He will help us all survive and live in the peace that we are all striving for."
The crowd went nuts. She smiled. She nodded to Harper, who took two steps forward before Octavia spoke again.
"Hapa kom Wonkru, houman kom Monti, en ai branon gonaheda kom Polis," Octavia started as she waved her forward. "She is my newest general, over both the guard and the gona that will stay at the bunker and here in Polis. Her word is my word. Her word is law. She will govern Polis and the bunker while Wanheda and I take back Eden or while we are in Eden after it ours again."
Indra handed her another pauldron. This one was similar to Indra's, but the the sash hanging from it was shorter. Needless to say, both Monty and Harper were surprised with their elevation, but they knew enough not to make it known to the crowd. Octavia took it and snapped over Harper's left shoulder. With Harper and Monty at her side, Octavia leaned down and reached for Clarke. Pulling her up on the dias, Octavia looked back over the crowd and smiled.
"We are the last of the men of Earth. We came together to survive and we did. As your leader, as your Osleya, even as your Blodreina, your Red Queen, I only gave you three tenants for us to follow. The first was one that came from the Kongeda and all the krus, but we found out that it was from even before that and the bunker. From the ashes, we will rise. And, we have. We have risen. We will take our places and we will thrive.
"The second tenants that I gave you was: Omon gon oson. All of me, for all of us. We work as a unit. We support the individual by supporting the whole. We've all come together in order to survive. We knew that every job was crucial and for the betterment of the bunker. We all hurt when one of us was hurt. We felt every death together. We celebrated every achievement together. We bleed for each other. OMON GON OSON!
"And lastly, the last tenant is the only true tenant of Wonkru. You're Wonkru or the enemy of Wonkru: choose. All of you chose to follow me. All of you chose to live. All of you chose to survive. But, there is one among us that decided to let power corrupt them. She decided that in order to get what she wanted, she was willing to sacrifice many to care for herself and a few others. Her crimes aren't just against me, but all of us," Octavia told them.
Clarke reached for Octavia, but stopped herself from getting to close. She wasn't sure what Octavia had told the people about their relationship yet. She wasn't sure if Octavia was going to announce them being together or wait until Eden. She looked out into the crowd and saw Bellamy with Madi. She gave them a small smile. Octavia reached back and pulled Clarke closer to her.
"Klark kom Wonkru, oso Wanheda, will tell you more about the crimes that Kara Kouper kom Nokru committed against us," Octavia announced.
Clarke nodded as stepped forward. She was to Octavia's right, the place of honor, the place of the Osleya houman, the place where Indra once stood as her second. The placement wasn't lost on Clarke as she surveyed the crowd again. She wasn't directly in front of Octavia, but she knew that the people understood more of what was going between them than they've been told. The good thing was that no one seemed to be upset by it either. She wished that she had her pauldron on her left shoulder. It made it feel more official, but she could tell that the people didn't care. She was their Wanheda. She commanded death, so they knew that if she was the one giving out the justice, the crimes must be severe.
"I came to as Klark kom Skaikru en Klironkru, Wanheda-de. I knelt before oso Osleya and joined Wonkru. Oso Osleya made me Prisa kom Wonkru en Wanheda kom Wonkru. You have all welcomed me and ai prisa, Madi kom Wonkru, kom Wanheda. I have worked with the fisas en gonas. We have been preparing to march for the Valley of Eden. I promised that we would take it back. And, we all know my word is now law, sha?"
A resounding yell of "SHA!" was called back to her. She smiled. They were going to eat Cooper alive.
"Cooper of no clan committed crimes against all of us. She poisoned the farm on purpose. She caused issues with our food. She almost destroyed the entire bunker. She almost caused you all to die through her negligence and hubris. She believed that she was due something that she wasn't because she was close to the Osleya, because she survived the Pits when others did not, because she wanted revenge for the deaths of her family in Praimfaya. It was not oso Osleya fault that Praimfaya happened. She was trying to save as many as she could and she smartly brought all the clans together to do it. She knew that if she spared some from every clan that we would be able to reinherit the Earth. And, we shall. But, Kara Kouper kom nokru wanted to kill oso Osleya. Octavia realized that Cooper was only after power and was using her influence to cause issues among all of Wonkru. She fell out of favor with oso Osleya. So, she poisoned the farm and it stopped producing. Then, she took her treachery further. She kept some worms that would kill us all and bred them. She made more and planned on releasing them in the Valley. This would have destroyed all the bis in Eden. To make matters worse, she convince gona to take the worms and take them into the Valley. She was using our bro en sis gona to kill those in the Valley, without honor. These people have now all died."
Clarke paused to let the words that she said sink in. She wanted them angry. She wanted them all to demand jus drein jus daun. She wanted them to want it. She wanted them to see Cooper for the evil that she was.
"To make her betrayal even more sinister, she had the guards and gonas around hainofa Eethin kom Osleya do other jobs and left him weak. She didn't tell oso Osleya that she had done this, but she had taken it upon herself to train the boy. Your prince was corrupted by her words and actions. He took the worms and got sick. We buried him today. She killed him with the worms, and she hid this from oso Osleya. Monty found this out and told us. Five of our brothers and sisters died because of this infestation. They died because Cooper couldn't wait for honor and us to assault the Valley.
"She has no honor. She has no clan. She tried to kill oso Osleya. She has tried to kill me. She almost succeeded in killing us all. She killed five of our brothers and sisters. She killed our prince. She broke our laws and I call for her death," Clarke shouted to the crowd.
It started faintly. Towards the back with the furthest from the dias, the almost indistingishable voicing of "jus drein jus daun" started. The surprise that caught both Octavia, who'd stepped back to Clarke's side, and Clarke was the loud addition of both Monty and Harper yelling for blood. Clarke raised her hand and the crowd went silent.
"Those here with Kara Kouper kom Nokru will not die today. They are banished. From Polis. From the Valley of Eden. From Wonkru. They are all kom Nokru," Clarke issued their judgement.
The crowd seemed to agree.
"Death by a thousand cuts," Octavia shouted above the din.
Indra and Miller moved forward. Cooper was already tied off to a pole. They released the others with her.
"Because we aren't cruel," Clarke started as she moved forward towards the banished.
London and another guard moved forward with her, carrying packs. Clarke took them and handed each of them one. She stepped back and the crowd parted.
"Safe travels on your adventures, natrona," she told them.
Several guards and some of Indra's personal best moved forward. They grabbed the traitors by the scruff of their necks and ran them out of Polis. The crowd just yelled obsentities in both Trig and English at them as they left.
Clarke's parting words to them were the normal warning that if they were ever found in any of Wonkru's territory, they would killed on sight. There would be no questions, no pardons, no leniency. Death or banishment, that was their choice for deciding to be an enemy of Wonkru.
"Every one can take their cut," Octavia called as soon as the guards came back to the crowd to let Octavia and Clarke know that the traitors were gone.
Indra was the first to step around to Cooper. She pulled a knife that she'd always carried on her side. She nodded to Miller, and he grabbed Cooper by the top of her head and her jaw. He forced her mouth open. This must have been planned between the two, Octavia thought, as Indra reached into Cooper's mouth and pulled at her tongue. She inserted the dagger as far as could and cut the muscle. She stepped back and Miller let her go. Indra threw the bit of tongue on the ground, stomped on it, and then spit at Cooper's feet.
"NATRONA!" she hissed at the woman.
Miller took his cut next. He wasn't gentle with her. He was viscous as he sliced through her thin clothes and stomach. It wasn't that deep, but it would serve. He stepped back and spit on her, too.
The guards then all filed around, one by one as they took their cuts. None of them were particularly too deep, but they would serve their purpose. They were all marking their displeasure on someone they thought they could trust, someone who used her power against them and betrayed them all. The officers stepped forward next. A few took fingers. One took off her boots and carved into her foot.
None of it mattered. Cooper screamed but the sounds were just loud whimpers. The people didn't seem to care about her having mercy or a quick death. One man stepped forward, he would later be named as one of the seconds in the farm. He cut a rather deep cut into her forearm, slicing away some of her shirt. He balled up the bloody scrap and forced it into her mouth. He no longer wanted to hear her weakness.
Clarke cocked an eyebrow at this, but she couldn't help the sentiment of his words. Monty stepped forward and slashed her cheek. He wanted it to be visible. Harper slashed the other side, mirroring her horror and disapproval.
The people all moved through and took their cuts. One by one, they stepped forward and sliced, stabbed or slashed at the woman. Some spit on her. Others spit at the ground. But, they all voiced their hatred of her actions.
When it was coming close to the end, Clarke was worried. She'd forgotten that Madi was there. Some of the children had taken cuts, standing beside their parents, with unsteady hands. Clarke had left Madi with her guards for this and now, she was worried about how Madi would react.
The teen stepped forward, head high. She still bore the ceremonial face paint from Ethan's funeral. The single black line swiping down her face. She reached down and pulled a dagger. Clarke sucked in a breath when she recognized it as Lexa's. She turned to face Octavia and then Indra. The darker woman simply nodded as she moved behind Madi, prepared to do whatever the teen needed to do.
"Indra gave her the dagger after she joined Wonkru," Octavia told Clarke.
"Why?"
"Because she figured out the truth that night."
"What did she say?"
"That she would support Madi should anything happen to the both of us. She swore that she would protect our strikheda," Octavia explained.
"That's Lexa's knife."
"I know. Indra's had it since Lexa was murdered. She didn't feel like I should have it. She wanted to give it to you, but you never made it back to us."
"It is right that Madi has it. She is Lexa's legacy. She will succeed us both," Clarke answered.
"And, she will have the peace that we never had," Octavia added.
They both turned as Madi began to speak.
"You betrayed my mother," Madi said with a cut to her face.
"You betrayed my Nomon-tu," she said slicing into Cooper's chest.
"You betrayed our people," Madi said stabbing into her thigh.
"But, most of all, you betrayed my brother," she sneered as she buried the knife into Cooper's gut.
Indra stepped in then and pulled the teen away. Clarke had already started moving and got to Madi in time to pulle her away from Indra. Indra nodded and backed away. Clarke reached out and took Indra's sword when it was offered.
She stepped up into Cooper. She shoved the sword through Cooper's heart. She didn't tell her fight was over. She didn't give that to forgive her, because she didn't. She didn't give her the closure that she knew all of Wonkru was waiting on.
Octavia stepped up, drew her sword and cut Cooper's head from her body. She reached down and picked up the head. She held it aloft for everyone to see.
"For her crimes, her body will be burned. Her head will be delivered to the desert for the worms to feed on. May her spirit never find rest and may her fight never be over," Octavia told them and then she spit on the slumped, headless body.
