Ai Hod Yu In

Chapter 4

It was a Sunday when things changed for Clarke forever, though she didn't know at the time how long those changes would affect her. She'd spent most of the time with little Madi and Gustus. Gustus had amazed her with his newest drawing. She had fallen asleep on the couch with Madi on her chest. He'd decided to draw them. It was by far his best work. She'd hung it up in her room.

On Sunday, Clarke decided to make a meal for the family. She chopped up some of the vegetables from the garden and some cooked it along with some meat the hunters had brought back. She was focused entirely on her meal, and was, therefore, taken by surprise when Madi began screaming. She turned around and hurried to the play area as quickly as possible. Madi had a cut on her hand, and Gustus was hiding and wailing. The most surprising thing, though, was that Madi's blood was the wrong color. It was black instead of red. She couldn't freak out about that yet, though. There was a good bit of blood coming out of the girl's hand, and she had to focus on that.

"Gustus, I need you to go get me some bandages from the cupboard, okay?" she asked him. The boy was too distraught, though. "Gustus, your sister will be fine, but I need you to do as I ask you."

"You won't take her away because of her blood?" the boy asked her. He looked so scared, and Clarke knew then that she would do whatever it took to help him. She vowed to herself that she would protect Gustus and Madi until her dying breath. No matter what.

"I won't take away your sister. I promise. We do need to patch her up before anyone else sees her blood though, okay. Can you help me help your sister?"

The boy ran up the steps for the bandages, and Clarke took a look at the hand. It looked like she had been overreacting up until now. She had probably had nails too long and cut herself with them. The cut wasn't even bleeding as badly as she thought. The black quality of her blood had put Clarke in panic mode, and in truth it was all for nothing. Not for nothing, she reminded herself. Soon she would have to confront her friends on why their daughter's blood was the wrong color.

"Shit," she swore to herself, remembering the food she had been cooking in the kitchen. She quickly took it off the stove and figured it could wait a bit.

Madi calmed down as soon as Clarke picked her up to soothe her, which was good. That was when Nala and Marcus came home, and they could see by Clarke's face that they might not be a huge fan of the conversation they had to have next.

"Gustus, go play in your room," Nala ordered softly. Clarke didn't say anything for a moment, not wanting Gustus to hear this conversation.

"Why is your daughter's blood black?" she finally asked, still rocking the baby softly. Madi smiled and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep in her arms.

"The same reason as anyone would be born a natblida."

"And why is that?" Clarke realised after she said it that this might give her away, but she was too concerned at the moment to care.

"What clan did you say you were from again?" Marcus asked suspiciously, stepping forward and reaching to take Madi away. Clarke gave him a glare, daring him to wake the sleeping child.

"Skaikru," she finally muttered, knowing she had no choice now. She needed answers, and she had to trust them with that at the least.

"That actually explains a lot," Nala murmured to Marcus. Finally, she spoke, "If we tell you this, you must swear that you will not let anyone know about Madi. This must stay a secret. Please, Clarke. Swear it to me, and I will tell you anything you want to know."

"I swear to you that I will keep Madi safe no matter what. If that means keeping this quiet, so be it."

"Every once in a while, a child is born a natblida. Their blood is the wrong color. They are supposed to be sent to Polis, to participate in the next Conclave to determine the leader of our people. The conclave is a fight to the death, though. It only has winner, and I can not let Madi go through that. I want Madi to be happy, and she never would if that was her life. Maybe it is selfish, but I just want my baby girl safe, as far away from Polis as possible."

"What would they do if they found out?"

"They would kill anyone who knew, and take Madi. All of us would die."