In the morning, when Clarke woke up with crusty from crying eyes, she stood up. Moving towards the stream she washed her face, filled her water skein and then took off into the forest.
XXXXXXXXXX
Bellamy couldn't admit that he cried the night his people were freed. That he'd done what he had to for his people. That he had been responsible for creating Wanheda; for painting a target on Clarke's back. He told his people not to go near the Sky People, and few wanted to test the wrath of Wanheda. It took weeks before he found out that she had not stayed with her people to heal, she had left on her own and he couldn't stop the fear that spiked within him at that.
Only when his sister returned from the mountain to spit her harsh words at him, did he find out what his treachery had caused. What his hand had forced. The Commander's still praised him for his decision every time he sat at the table, but now they also cautioned him on the power she now had over him.
They begged him to put a leash on her before she could ruin everything he had worked for. When he found out that Queen Nia had put out bounties on Clarke's head, he put his best people on it. Lincoln, Octavia, Indra and many others had moved their warriors to trace their lands looking for any hint of her.
He also sent for Prince Roan, offering him a deal if he went against his mother in exchange for removing his banishment. He knew that Roan, provided proper motivation, would be his best option for finding her quickly, quietly and still alive.
XXXXXXXXXX
She runs for weeks, occasionally coming by the forest where her people are; just to check in, she tells herself. They are training so far as she could tell; hunting well, healing well without her. She also finds herself out the outskirts of Grounder villages, trying to learn their language better. She's always had an ear for languages, so it comes far easier than she would expect.
After the first month, she started to hear whispers around the Grounder villages. They sounded almost worshipful in nature; they spoke of Wanheda. It took two more weeks for her understand that they believed Wanheda was a commander of death. By the end of the second month, she had been sure that they believed she was Wanheda.
The thought that they might have been right. That she was a commander of death after the amount of death she'd dealt in, brought the nightmares more fiercely to her every night. She had to move further away from any camps than she had to before, in case she woke up screaming.
In the third month, she found out that she was being hunted. It took several more days to find out that Azgeda wanted her, and that Bellamy himself had people looking for her. When she found that out, she started to color her hair with the berries that still grew as the seasons turned cooler.
With her hair colored she felt safe enough to venture into the trading post at the edge of Trikru territory. Her kill from the morning, dragging behind her feet. The blonde woman who is quite beautiful, helps her, as she has done every time Clarke has ventured into their store. Even with her hair colored, Clarke still keeps her hood up, speaking only in Trigedasleng.
This time as she waited for her kill to be processed, three bounty hunters enter the trading post. She turned away from them, pretending to be looking closely the stuff on the shelves that face away from the door, pulling her hood tighter around her face.
Niylah stands tall as two of the imposing men file closer to her. "You got something to trade?" she asked as the third man started to wander her store.
Clarke watched as the taller of the two men unfolds a piece of paper asking if Niylah has seen the woman in the drawing. She tried to round the corner of the shelving to get a look at the picture but the third man had his eyes on her.
"That's not a very good likeness." Niylah said, drawing all three men's eyes to her.
The man who had trailing the store asked. "Then you have seen her."
She nodded to them. "She was here two days ago. She said she was going north following Eden's Pass."
The third man thanks her telling her that she had been more helpful than she could imagine before following the two other men who had already hurried out of the trading post, but not before looking back at Clarke. Once the store is clear of the grounders, she asked Niylah how long she'd known that she was Wanheda.
"How long have you been coming here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. When Clarke moved to exit the trading post, Niylah stopped her. "I would wait. Give them a chance to clear out. Have a drink."
"Why are you helping me?" Clarke asked while watching Niylah poured her drink.
"My mother was taken by the Mountain. You ended the reaping." She said simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Later when Niylah is handing Clarke her the filled pack, her hand brushed against Clarke's shoulder which drew a hiss from Clarke. She dropped the bag and told Clarke to remove her jacket so she could look at it.
Sighing Clarke took her jacket off and allowed Niylah to clean the wound she had received from her hunt earlier. As Niylah's hand brushed over her skin she said, "No kill marks."
Clarke's stomach soured as she turned to look at Niylah over her shoulder. "My back's not big enough."
"Tell me about the Mountain." Niylah prompted when Clarke said nothing further.
"There's nothing to tell." She shrugged, pulling away from Niylah to put her jacket back on. "I did what I had to do, that's all."
"That's all? You killed our greatest enemy. You wiped them out by yourself." Niylah scoffed at her.
"I have nothing else to say on the matter. I will be back with another kill in a few days." Clarke turned, grabbing her pack and exited the trading post.
As she closed the door behind her, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand at attention moments before she felt the cold bite of metal on her neck and the hot wash of breath on her neck. His raspy voice whispered. "Hello Wanheda."
His large hands reached around to grasp at her hand, bringing a loop of rope around one wrist before removing the knife from her neck and grabbing her other hand. He dragged her off into the forest in the dead of night and fear stabbed her stomach.
He dragged her for miles over the rocky terrain that skirted Trikru territory. They walked until the sky lightened and then they walked further. She dragged her heels the whole time, she saw a river just up ahead and knew that this was her chance to escape, if there ever was one. Clarke started to stagger her steps; tilting wildly from side to side before falling to the ground eyes lightly shut as if she had passed out.
"On your feet. Looks like the great Wanheda is human after all." The man said before he nudged her with his foot. She kept her body relaxed and tried not to let her steady breathing falter. She felt the rope around her wrists go lax. She peered through slanted eyes to see him drinking at the stream just below her feet as she had hoped he would.
She waited just a moment before she launched herself at his back bringing her bound hands over his head and leaning back to put pressure on his larynx, her knees digging into his back, pressing him into the water.
Clarke holds him there until he stops moving and then for a moment more. She'd barely had a chance to catch her breath before he launched out of the water and pulled her into the water, shoving her under until she thought she was going to drown. Then suddenly he's pulling her up out of the water and she is gasping for air. She can see the water running red around her from the berry coloring washing away.
"Now that's better." He said, as he pulled her out of the water.
She looked more clearly at his face as his wet brown hair slicked back on his head. "You're Ice Nation."
"Roan." His smile was smug as he grabbed the rope and yanked her forward again, almost off her feet.
More hours passed as she was dragged along the path, never slowing his pace, not until he could barely keep his own feet under him. When that happened, he'd tie her to the nearest tree to catch a couple hours of sleep. So many days passed in this fashion that she wasn't sure that he wasn't entirely lost.
Midday about a week after she'd been captured, he had stopped at the edge of the field as he pulled her down to look at the men moving through the tall grass. "Quiet. Ice Nation scouts. Come on, we backtrack, then we go around."
She turned to him and quirked an eyebrow before opening her mouth and screaming.
"Their deaths are on you." He said before standing; coiling her rope around his hand loosely after pulling a bag over her head. "Easy. I don't want trouble."
She doesn't listen closely to him as he converses with the scouts; one of them roughly pulling the bag off her head. Her eyes darted around looking for an escape route when he finally let go of her rope. Suddenly she is yanked off balance before he moves into fight the two men closest to him.
Clarke stumbles to her feet and starts running, tripping over her tired feet as she scurried away. The sound of his scuffle chased her for moments before the huffing of one of the scouts met her ears. She didn't look back, knowing it would take precious seconds that she didn't have, in her exhaustion. The unexpected weight of the scout dropped her to the ground. She didn't realize he was dead until she felt the trickle of blood over her shoulder as it poured from his mouth.
She heard someone's steps approaching her right as she saw the knife just in front of her fingers. Grabbing the knife, she tensed as the person neared her. Her eyes slid closed as his voice met her ears. "Didn't have to be this way."
He rolled the dead man off her, grabbing the rope that still bound her hands and lifted her to her knees. Swinging out with the knife in her hands she stabbed him in the stomach before pulling back and driving it towards his face. Only to have him stop her and turn the knife against her throat quicker than she had expected.
His intense eyes stared into hers, the knife not wavering from her skin. "If you were gonna kill me you would have done it already." She breathed.
"There's still time." He bit back before dropping the knife.
XXXXXXXXXX
Indra raced into his room, pulling him from his conference with the other commanders, only offering a token apology for interrupting. "Heda, Ice Nation has crossed the border. They are marching this way.
He stood up and moved towards Indra. "How do you know?"
"I was with the Sky People, looking for Wanheda and we saw their warriors marching. I came right here." He leaned in at the mention of Clarke, his heart racing in his chest at the mere thought of her.
He straightened out when he realized what he had done unintentionally, with a cough to cover his discomfort. "And did you find her?"
"Yes, Heda." She bowed to him. "The Sky People were closing in on her when I left them, she had been captured but I'm sure that they will get her back."
"And how many warriors did Nia send." He moved toward the map on his desk. "Where are they at?"
"A full contingent." Indra's solemn eyes met his and he sucked in a sharp breath.
XXXXXXXXXX
Roan pulled her along more slowly than before, his hand clutching his side where she had stabbed him. He stumbled forward onto a stone pillar that stood outside a set of stairs. "Scream again and we'll both be dead" He hissed at her as he dragged her down the stairs.
Once they had descended into the cavern, Roan shoved her harshly against a pillar inside and tied her down before he started a fire. She watched him as he stripped his jacket and shirt off to expose his wound. He clenched his teeth as he wiped the blood away. When he set his knife into the fire, she realized what he was about to do.
"Another inch and I'd be dead. Maybe you're not the Commander of Death after all." He said before pressing the knife to his wound. "Now she's quiet."
"Why are you hiding from your own people?" She queried; her eyebrows bunched in confusion.
"Why'd you run away from yours?" He squatted down in front of her, looking over her with a critical eye. "The great Wanheda. Mountain slayer."
She flinched at the name. "I'm no one."
"Lot of people out there right now looking for no one." He said, ignoring her comment.
"You're obviously not loyal to the Ice Nation, so why are you taking me there?" She tried to reason with him. "Look, whatever the Ice Queen is giving you, my people will offer you more."
"Doubt that." He snorted before standing up and pacing away from her. "Not for someone who abandoned them."
"You don't know anything about me." She hissed in outrage.
"I know you took the coward's way out." He argued back with a smug smile on his face.
Clarke turned her head away from him, unable to meet his eyes. "Like you're so different. You're in disguise, same as me. You're on the run, same as me. In the wilderness, same as me."
"I was banished. Nothing like you. You had a choice. And no, I can't take you home to your people because you're the way back home to mine." He moved towards her pulling the gag back into her mouth and left the cavern. Leaving her alone to stew in her own thoughts.
She is alone in the cavern for a couple hours before she hears slow, almost hesitant footsteps. She dropped her head and slowed her breathing and lightly closed her eyes. When she saw the feet breach her line of sight, suddenly they started to move faster. When she heard Wells', voice call her name quietly she looked up tears in her eyes.
"I'll get you out of here." He said as he pulled the gag from her mouth.
A movement on the stairs caught Clarke by surprise and she barely had time to tell Wells to "Look out!" before Roan had jumped on him, dropping him to the ground pressing his knife to his throat.
"Please don't. I'll do anything, I'll stop fighting. Just please don't kill him." She yelled to Roan as tears dribbled down her face. He looks at her for a moment before he pulls the knife away from his throat. She heaved out a "Thank you." moments before he drove the knife into Wells' leg.
Roan kicked him in the ribs. "Don't follow us." he said before he cut the bonds holding her to the pillar and dragging her out of the cavern.
XXXXXXXXXX
Bellamy watched Roan lead Clarke into the throne room with his heart in his throat, a bag over her head and angry red burns on her wrists from the rope she was being dragged by.
"Wanheda, as promised." Roan's gruff voice reached his ears, but his eyes were trained on the girl in front of him. When the bag came off her head, he saw the gag in her mouth and the angry set of her stormy eyes. He stood from his seat and moved slowly down from his throne.
"Hello, Clarke." He said, trying to keep the regret and longing out of his voice. He turned to Roan when he saw the trail he tears had made in the dirt on her face "The deal was for you to bring her to me unharmed."
Roan bowed but Bellamy could see the dissonance in his stiff body. "She didn't come easy."
"I expect not." Bellamy hums in agreement as he looks at Roans disheveled state and the blood that stained his shirt if he was not mistaken.
"I've done my part, now do yours'. Lift my banishment." Roan growled at Bellamy's distracted face.
His eyes flash with frustration at the Azgeda Prince. "I'm told your mother's army marches on Polis."
"That has nothing to do with me." The outrage is easy to see on Roan's face as he dropped the volume of his voice. "Honor our deal."
"I'll honor our deal when your Queen honors my coalition. Lock Prince Roan of Azgeda away." He said as he turned away from him to move in towards Clarke. The guards hauling roan out of the room.
"Help her up." He said as the remaining guards move closer to them. They pulled her to her feet but did not move far from him. "Leave us." Bellamy watched the guards move to stand outside the doors and Titus and Indra left him after looks of concern are thrown his way.
"I'm sorry." He reached out tentatively to pull the gag from her mouth. He let his fingers trail softly down her face. His fingers tingling from the contact "It had to be this way. I had to ensure Wanheda didn't fall into the hands of the Ice Queen. War is brewing, Clarke. I need you."
She pulled back from him, shaking her head slightly as the rage behind her eyes built up. He shuffled after her slightly as if pulled by a magnet. Suddenly, though his eyes had not left her face he was startled by the spit that launched from her mouth and landed on his cheek.
The screech that came from her was feral sounding. "You bastard!" The guards came rushing forward to grab her and didn't stop her angry tirade. "You wanted the Commander of Death, you got her. I'll kill you."
He turned his stunned face away from her as she was dragged from the room. He moved toward the balcony of his throne room as he absently wiped his face. Setting his elbows on the railing before letting his head hang onto his forearms.
He didn't know how long he stood there before he felt someone put the palm of their hand softly between his shoulder blades, rubbing gently. He didn't look up until he heard his sister's soft voice calling his name.
He felt like he could cry. If he wasn't the commander, he might've allowed himself to do just that. Instead he said. "I've ruined any hope I have of keeping this coalition alive. And myself with it." He turned back to the skyline in front of him. Ignoring any further queries his sister made.
XXXXXXXXXX
Clarke sat, staring blankly at the window of her prison. Hours passed before anyone entered, the door opening tentatively. She could still feel the tingle of his touch on her face. She wouldn't allow her traitorous body to move to look at who had entered. Locking down on everything in case it was him, back to torment and confuse her further.
"Clarke?" Clarke clenched her eyes at the soft question in the Grounder's voice. She heard the feet move closer to her, but she still didn't turn. She shook her head. "Clarke, look at me."
"I can't, Octavia." She sighed, keeping her unfocused eyes on the window. It was Octavia's turn to sigh as she asked why not. "I know why you are here. I can't -" she paused to correct herself. "won't see him."
"That's not w-" She cut Octavia off with a raised hand.
"Please?" She begged. "I know you stayed and tried to help. I know you went against your brother but I jus- just can't."
"Clarke, I-" Octavia stopped on her own as if she didn't quite know what to say.
She finally pulled her gaze from the window to look down at her raw wrists. "Unless you are here to let me out. Please leave. Wanheda," She paused with a shudder at the name before biting out the rest of her words. "Wanheda is dangerous. I'm dangerous."
She heard Octavia's feet move towards the door. "This look isn't becoming on you, Clarke. This isn't a prison. Washing may just make you feel more like yourself." Her feet moved her further. "And Clarke? He cares. He regrets making that choice. Not because your people had to suffer. But because you are suffering."
She heard the door click shut before she registered her anger. Her hands grabbing the flimsy chair she had been sitting in and flinging it across the room to crash against a wall.
XXXXXXXXXX
Clarke's eyes flickered to the door in time to see him enter before moving back to gaze out the window she stood in front of. This was more than what she had been offering according to Octavia, Lincoln and Indra.
The bite of her words made him flinch "What part of "I won't see you" was unclear?"
"I respected your wishes for a week, Clarke." He could hear his own frustration leaking into his words. "We've got bigger concerns."
""We" don't have any concerns at all." She said. He could hear her teeth grinding in her jaw.
He pushed a hard breath past his lips, his hand coming up to rub against the back of his neck "Yes, we do. I'm hosting a summit with Skaikru at sundown. You'll be returned to your people."
She snorted. "You went to all that trouble to capture me just to let me go?"
"Yes, no, I- damn it, Clarke. I went to all that trouble to save you." He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. His hands drumming on the windowsill in front of them.
"You know when I could use saving?" Her tone was caustic, but her eyes still refused to look at him. "When you abandoned me at Mount Weather."
"Clearly, you didn't need my help." His own tone coming back just as caustic as his hands clutched at the sill.
"Clearly." She agreed.
He took in a deep breath, ready to try a different tactic. "You're angry, Clarke, but I know you. What you've done haunts you, and it's easier to hate me than to hate yourself."
"Oh, I can do both." She said. It was clear to him that she can see just how she was affecting him, and she was looking for any other button she could press.
"What would you have done if their leader had offered you the deal: Save your people at the price of mine? Would you really have chosen differently?" He pressed. Needing her to see where he was coming from.
She snorted again, but her eyes finally met his. "I don't betray my friends."
"But you did." He whispered; his eyes trapped by hers. "You had friends in Mount Weather."
"Those deaths are on you, too." She said. Her eyes turning back out the window. Only then did he noticed the lines of stress all over her body, rounding her shoulders forward. "The only difference is, you have no honor, and I had no choice."
"Clarke," He paused pulling in a steadying breath. "If you need forgiveness, I'll give you that. You are forgiven. But you're right. I'm not just letting you go back to your people. I want something more." He pulled in another steadying breath to keep himself from saying what his heart wanted. "I want your people to become my people. I'm offering Skaikru the chance to join my coalition, become the 13th Clan. No one would dare to move against you because that would be moving against me."
"Just leave me alone. I'm done. Do you understand that? I left." She sounded so defeated. His hand unintentionally reaching out to lightly grasp her elbow.
His thumb started tracing light circles on her soft skin "You can't run away from who you are, Clarke. Join me and your people will be safe."
"You don't give a damn about my people. I know why you're here. I made you look weak at Mount Weather, and now the Ice Nation is exploiting that. Well, if you want the power of Wanheda, kill me. Take it. Otherwise, go float yourself because I will never bow to you." Her explosion of anger pulled her away from him, before she curled back in on herself.
"I couldn't kill you even if I wanted too. Think about it, Clarke." He said quietly before leaving the room.
He strode down the hall to the elevator taking it up to the top level. He moved quickly to the throne room, his frustration with the blonde a few levels below making his movement jerky.
Titus' voice rang out clear and sharp, drawing him back to the room in front of him. "Rise for your Commander." Bellamy turned around after he reached his throne to see all the ambassadors bowing except Ice Nation. Titus rounded on the smug man. "Ice Nation will bow before your Commander."
"The Commander should bow before Ice Nation. We know not to make treaties with our enemies." He said, swaggering forward.
"The Commander bows before no one." Titus moved forward in front of Bellamy.
"Stand down, Titus." Bellamy said and the thin man moved back to the side of Bellamy's throne.
The Azgeda ambassador turned to look at the others with a taunting tone. "He even prefers the enemy's language."
"And you will use it, too, in honor of our guests this evening. Now sit. We have more important matters to discuss." Bellamy gestured for the man to sit, but he ignored him, his smug face staring at Bellamy.
"Yes, we do. For example, why is Wanheda still alive?" His voice was patronizing as he turned back to the other ambassadors again. "If this is your weakness again, Azgeda will happily step in."
"Is that why your army has moved so close to Polis because you believe the Commander is weak?" Titus stepped forward; his voice low.
"Oh, those are just military exercises." The Azgedan man shrugged sounding as if he were discussing the weather.
"Exercises?" Indra sputtered as she stood from her seat. "You crossed the border into Trikru land, an army within striking distance of our beloved capital."
The pompous man nodded; his face pulled into a sneer at her. "A mistake that was quickly rectified, as you well know."
"The Ice Queen doesn't make mistakes. She makes threats." Titus, unable to stop, moved into the man's space.
"There's no need to argue about this again." Bellamy moved off to the side, his hand opened wide, invitingly. Trying to keep his face neutral even though anger pulsed through him. "Please come join me. Let us speak in private. I have a message for Queen Nia."
Bellamy moved them out onto the balcony letting the Azgeda ambassador move slightly ahead of him. "And I'll happily deliver-" The man started before Bellamy kicked the man over the edge that held no railing. His scream echoed up into the throne room.
The nervous tittering of the other ambassadors met his ears as he walked back into the room. "Would anyone else care to question my decisions?" He looked at them. None of them willing to meet his eyes. "Good. Then let's begin."
XXXXXXXXXX
The musky smell of the Azgedan Prince greeted her before he shuffled closer to her. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Well, if it isn't the Prince of Azgeda."
"Don't be fooled." He said in a low voice. "I'm a prisoner here, same as you."
"You're the reason I'm a prisoner here." She rounded on him with furious eyes. She couldn't believe that he and the audacity to even try to compare their situations.
"Relax, Wanheda." The humor in his voice was just as grating as Bellamy's regret had been. "I'm here to help you."
She snorted. "Sure, you are."
"Commander promised to lift my banishment if I delivered you safely. He broke our deal. I'm willing to strike a new one with you so we can both go home." He shuffled closer to her, his voice dropping lower.
"Joke's on you." She told him; her voice just as low. "I'm already going home."
His head turned so he was talking into her hair. She had to lock down every muscle to keep from flinching. "Then you won't have a chance to get what you really want."
"What would you know about what I want?" She asked, dragging her body further from him.
"I saw the look on your face when I took that hood off." A smile played on his lips. "You want revenge."
"You want to him dead?" She would be dead if she admitted that she didn't think she could kill him. "So, kill him."
"You can get close. I can't. You'll find a knife under your bed when you return to your room. I've already bought enough of the guards to get you out of here. If you do this, Azgeda will take control of the coalition, and you'll find a strong and grateful ally in the Ice Queen." He promised as his eyes raked over her body, making her uncomfortable.
She pulled further away from him, crossing her arms over her body. "And why should I trust her? From what I hear, she's worse than Bellamy."
"That's because you've been talking to him. Look." He huffed before he closed in on her again. "We're all trying to do what's right for our people. This is what's right for yours."
XXXXXXXXXX
The thump of wooden stakes echo, the concussion vibrated up his arm as Aden pressed forward. "Good, Aden. Again." The thump of the stakes sounded off again when suddenly his hand almost loses the stake, surprising him.
"They're here." Titus called to him. "Night bloods. Pair up and continue training."
Bellamy turned to Titus as the steady thump of stakes sounded off again. "Aden is ready. He's even better than I was before my conclave." They turned to look at the tower that stood tall as a beacon to their people. "You still think the summit is a bad idea."
"You mean well, Heda." He turned to look at Bellamy as he sucked on his teeth. "But now is not the time for good intentions. Your enemies are circling. Queen Nia moves against you. Our focus should be there. Instead, you antagonize her further by offering the Skaikru a seat at your table."
"I will not let the fear of war dictate our agenda." He continued to gaze at Polis.
"Why are you doing this?" Titus' voice turned pleading. "Sky People are here to negotiate a treaty, not join the coalition. They didn't ask for this. Not one of the 12 Clans will accept it."
"They will accept it." He turned to Titus. "When they see Wanheda bow before me."
Titus' face turned confused. "She won't even see you, yet everything you do elevates her. Why?"
Bellamy turned to face Titus and said. "Clarke elevates herself. She's special."
"You're special, Heda. I've been the Fleimkepa for 4 commanders. No one has done what you have. We are so close to our goal. If you want the power of Wanheda, you know what must be done. You strike her down. Kill her. Take her power." Titus' voice had a hardened, frantic edge to it.
Bellamy turned to leave. "I'll hear no more of that Titus." He said; his voice was final.
XXXXXXXXXX
Clarke turned the knife over and over in her hands. They trembled as quickly as her thoughts raced. She was so angry at him but the thought of hurting him, hurt her. She had to do this though, didn't she? For her people, so he couldn't betray them again. Couldn't toss them in front of a war like chattel.
The door to her room opened and he walked in. She didn't turn to look at him, but she let her hands drop to the side, concealing the knife by her thigh.
"You wanted to see me?" He questioned as he walked closer to her. "I'm here. Clarke"
She rounded on him, cutting him off from saying anything further. Shoved him against the wall, bringing the knife up to his throat as she stared at him. His eyes danced back and forth between hers. His expression softening as he brought his large hands to rest on her hips. He was not afraid.
"I'm sorry" He whispered to her and that was enough to deflate her entirely. Tears welled up and gently fell over onto her cheeks. Her hand fell to her side and the knife clattered to the ground. Her head falling forward to land on his chest. She felt one of his hands leave her hip to come up and rest against the back of her head, his thumb stroking lightly. "I never meant to turn you into this. You're free to go. Your mother is here. I'll have you escorted to her."
He pulled away from her and her heart lurched as he started to walk towards the door. "Wait. I have a better idea, but I need something more if I'm to bow to you in front of everyone."
He turned back to look at her, his hope earnest on his face. "Of course, your people will become the 13th clan."
"No," she shook her head. "I need more. I need to know there are no loopholes. No way for my people to be left high and dry again. We don't have enough warriors to defend against any other clan."
"Clarke?" She could see his confusion on his face.
