The feeling of warmth surrounded Clarke as she started to wake. She longed to bask in the shallow feeling of comfort that flooded her brain in those moments before waking. She could feel the shallow rise and fall of a chest behind her where most of the heat radiated from as she turned towards it. Worming her way further into the warmth.
Her face scrunched in confusion as she heard the rustling of clothes on the leather of the couch as she tried to figure out why there was another person in the room with her and Bellamy. Her eyes finally blinking open to see the blood-stained linen that still wrapped Bellamy's chest and the horrible realization of what had happened crashed over her. A gasp came involuntarily to her lips as she pressed her face into the warmth of his side as she covered her mouth to hide the sob that begged to be ripped from her mouth.
The slamming of a door against the wall pulled another gasp from her as she jerked away from Bellamy. The sound of hurried feet moving towards the bed had Clarke sitting up and staring into the green eyes of Bellamy's sister. She could see Murphy jumping to his feet from the periphery of her eye. Clarke shifted to her knees as Octavia closed in on them, their hands reaching out to Bellamy at the same time. Clarke's fingers threading through his, Octavia's dancing lightly over his chest.
Their eyes meeting again, though no words left their lips. The two women having a silent conversation that was interrupted when Murphy moved towards the bed. A quiet, "how is he?" falling from his lips as he watched Clarke.
Clarke turned to look at Bellamy as she brushed his hair off his forehead and felt for a fever. "I don't know, but I would feel better if he would wake up." She met Murphy's questioning gaze. "My mother would have done a better job. She would know what to do."
"You did fine, Clarke." Octavia jumped in before Murphy could get a word. "He's strong. He will survive."
She blew out a breath of air and her hair fluttered around her face. "Well, I'll still feel better when my mother has a look at him. She should be here within hours." She moved off the bed and asked Octavia to keep an eye on him so she could look over Murphy's injuries that she'd neglected last night.
Pulling Murphy back towards the couch she made him sit down as she moved towards the door, asking the guard outside to bring her some supplies. When he returned with fresh bandages, clean water and some sort of salve, Clarke thanked him and moved back into the room. "What happened to you, Murphy? And I don't just mean your immediate injuries. We were about to go to war with the Grounders and you and Jaha and 12 others just disappeared. Jaha returned about a week or so ago, by the way. I thought you were dead when you weren't back at camp."
His eyes widened in surprise at the sniffle she tried to cover up by moving to the injuries on his back. He settled his hand on her knee for a moment offering a smug smile as he asked, "You miss me, Princess?"
She gave a watery laugh. "I told you not to call me that, but of course I did. So much has happened. We needed you. I needed you."
"I'm sorry, Clarke but Jaha was up to something and I couldn't let him go on his own and risk everything that you had just done to try and protect us." He shrugged. "I couldn't let Finn's death mean nothing because Jaha decided to be our 'savior' again."
She laid her hand gently on his shoulder for a moment before moving to wrap his cracked ribs. "What happened while you were gone?"
His shoulders slumped forward as he moved to rest his arms against his knees. He told her about crossing the dead lands and how they lost everyone except him and Jaha. He told her about being stuck in the lighthouse for 86 days and running out of food about what he almost did. He told her about finding Jaha with the A.I., that she was the one that ended the world not politics like they thought. "And now Jaha has her in his head and I'm worried about what they will do."
"Huh?" she says as she pushes her hair back. Her eyes flick to Octavia who had been not so subtly listening in. "So that is what Jaha was trying to sell when we saw them back at camp. We need to warn my mom when she gets here."
"So, what did I miss while I was gone? Last thing I remember you wanted to kill him for what he made you do to Finn; I wasn't expecting the turn around."
She snorts in amusement at his casual tone, as if they weren't discussing tragedy. "Well, we got our alliance at the cost of Finn's life, and right as we were going to free our people, Mount Weather offered them a deal, hundreds of their people would be released if they pulled back and left our people there." She looked down at her hands. "He took the deal. I was able to get in, find Wells and Monty. Then I killed their president in cold blood so his son could hear it. I hoped he would let our people go but he didn't and then I pulled the lever that irradiated the whole mountain. I killed them all, Murphy. They didn't give me a choice."
She looked up at him and blinked the tears in her eyes away, some slipping past them down her cheeks. She heard Octavia, suck in a pained breath and Clarke turned her eyes towards the grounder girl who looked ashamed. "Octavia defied her brother and stayed to help." Clarke's eyes softened as she smiled at the girl and mouthed a 'thank you' to her.
Murphy's body was rigid with tension. "I don't understand. How did you get from there to here? I would have killed him."
"I wanted to, for a long time. But he ended up saving me. The Grounders began to believe I was a Wanheda, a commander of death, and as such I had powers that the Azgaden Queen wanted. She wanted to take over the coalition by killing Bellamy and in order to do that she wanted to kill me."
She told him all about what had happened with the queen and Roan. She told him about finding Pike and losing the mountain. She told him about Emerson and everything he had missed. "So, we became the 13th clan and He and I entered into an arranged marriage so they can never leave us defenseless again." She looked at Murphy who looked confused by her tone as she dropped the last bombshell about what she was in the process of doing for their people, who had shunned her for what she had done in the mountain. "He's not who I thought he was, Murphy. He was just trying to do the same thing I was - we were. He was just trying to save his people. We have done horrible things to each other."
"I don't understand, Princess. Why do this for people who are too selfish to care about you. People who left you alone to make so many sacrifices for them." He looked genuinely confused and frustrated for her.
"I asked her the same thing." A weak Bellamy said from the bed. The surprise gasp from Octavia told her that no one had noticed him waking.
Clarke darted towards the bed and her hands came up to cup his face. "Your awake." She whispered.
His grin answered her back as he raised a hand to rest over hers a wince playing over his face as he pulled against sore muscles. "Seems so," he paused for a moment, a playfulness danced in his eyes. "Princess."
She groaned but the tears in her eyes dripped down onto his chest. "Not you too." She said as she pressed her forehead to his. "I'm so glad you're awake."
"Me too." He whispered as he leaned up slightly to press his lips lightly to hers.
She pulled back after only a moment, remembering that they weren't alone. Her blushing face turned to meet Octavia's smug grin. A soft smile floated on Murphy's battered face. "I see why now." was all he said.
Octavia took a moment to lean down and say something to him in their language only some of which Clarke understood. Her hand clasped onto Clarke's shoulder for a moment before she turned to leave. She paused at the door before turning to look at Clarke and Bellamy with a playful grin. "I expect the wedding is still on and that you will be up and walking around in the next 2 days. Otherwise you will disappoint a lot of people. Mostly me, because I've done a lot of work on this." And with that she turned and left a blushing set of commanders and a loudly laughing Murphy.
XXXXXXXXXX
Clarke stayed at his side for hours with his hand clasped in hers only slipping her fingers from his when his generals came in to meet with him. They had a worker move Murphy into a room of his own where he could recuperate. Titus arrived with Clarke's mother who looked over the wound as he stared down the Flame keeper who refused to make eye contact with him. He could hear Clarke's mother praising her for the job she had done on his shoulder and he was inclined to agree with her.
Titus turned to leave, pausing when Bellamy called to him. "I expect you to call back Gaia and finish her training, you will answer for what you have done, Titus."
"Yes, Heda." He left the room, Clarke's mom following him out of her room to check on Murphy.
They were finally alone again. "This was not how I was planning for the day to go." He said which caused her to chuckle.
"Yes, I would imagine getting shot was not on your list of things to do after having some really great sex." She agreed. He laughed at her before groaning when he jostled his shoulder. "Shit, sorry Bell."
"It's okay, princess." He said.
"Ugh," She rolled her eyes at him. "You know I'm not a princess, right? We don't have kings or queens on the ark. We have a council and chancellor. It's all pretty democratic if I'm being honest."
He chuckled again but softer. "Well, I think I'll keep the nickname, if it's all the same to you. You are my Princess."
She flushed and ducked her head, her fingers tracing the veins on his hand, sending tingles up his arms and raising goosebumps on his skin. He turned his hand over in hers and gripped at her fingers, drawing her eyes back to his. The pink still playing over her cheeks.
"We should move back to my room. Let the workers clean up the blood from the bed." He said as he stared into her ocean eyes.
She nodded. "Let me get one of the guards to help you up."
He watched her move towards the door, already longing for her to be back at his side. His eyes trailed over her as he watched her return with the guard that helped him to his feet. She trailed after him to his room to make sure that he was comfortable before letting the guard return to post duty outside his room. He reached out for her, gently pulling her into his side upon the bed, hissing slightly when he jarred his wound by straining his muscles.
She started to pull away when he groaned at the protest his aching body gave with each movement. He put his hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back to the bed. "Wait, I'll be okay once I get settled."
"You should have gotten settled when the guard was here to help you." She said petulantly but didn't move away anymore.
"I was settled." She was warm against the chill he felt, 'blood loss' Abby had explained. "But you weren't in bed with me, then." He said with a cheeky smile.
She sighed before reaching down to pull the covers up over both of them. Her hand moving to rest on the exposed skin of his abdomen as she curled further into him. "Well now I'm here and you should rest. You need to get some sleep and when you wake, I'll have them bring you some food and water."
He didn't close his eyes as he nodded to her. His eyes not leaving her face as he twisted again to face her more fully. He reached a handout to smooth over the worry that lined her face. "You saved me."
She closed her eyes for a moment and there were tears in her eyes when she opened them, not meeting his eyes. "This was my fault. My fault that you got hurt."
"No." He said so sternly she looked back in shock. "This was Titus' fault. You are not responsible for his actions. We made a plan. A good plan and it gets everyone everything they need. And we get each other, and I think that is the best part."
The tears started to fall from her eyes, and he swiped at them with his thumb as he set his hand against her cheek. "I was so scared that I was going to lose you. That I wasn't going to be able to save you." She whispered turning to press a kiss against his palm.
"But you did. I'm here and we have our whole lives ahead of us." She nodded before moving forward to press her soft lips against his, pulling back when he groaned low in his throat. "No, it was not from pain. I just want you but I'm too tired."
She laughed before pressing another kiss to his lips before snuggling into him again. "Then rest and I will be here when you wake."
XXXXXXXXXX
The sound of heavy footsteps woke her up but instead of moving away from Bellamy who was thankfully still sleeping she just raised her head to look at Lincoln who was moving towards the bed. "Octavia sent me to find you. She said something about a dress fitting."
She looked at Bellamy, almost nervously and before she could tell him to let Octavia know she would go later, he added. "I will stay with him and let him know where you have gone."
"Or, I already know because my best friend makes more noise that a warrior of his stature should." Bellamy said without opening his eyes. His arms tightened around her waist before releasing her.
"Okay. I will have them send you some food. Lincoln please make sure he drinks a lot of water if he is going to stay awake. It will help with the blood loss." She squeezed the hand that had slipped down to her thigh when she sat up before sliding out of the bed.
She turned to look back at the pair of men who were having a whispered conversation before exiting the room. Stopping only to tell the guard to get the Heda some breakfast and drinking water.
When she met Octavia in her room, she was surprised to see her mother in there as well. "Mom?"
"Oh, Clarke, the dress is beautiful." She gushed, and Clarke raised an eyebrow to Octavia who just shrugged.
"Time for the bride to try it on." Octavia said before moving to the side so Clarke could move behind the screen Octavia had set up.
Clarke moved around the screen, surprised the dressmaker was already there, directing her to undress and to remove her bra. The dress was scrunched down so she could step into the delicate fabric. The dressmaker lifted the dress and began to make adjustments as she laid the fabric over Clarke's body. She looked down to see how the dress wrapped over her chest down to her waist tucking into the sides, leaving her back exposed. The skirt of the gown was tight to her sides before flaring out as it reached her knees.
With the final adjustments made the dressmaker shooed her out from behind the curtain so the others could see, and she could see herself in the mirror. She felt the tears well in her eyes as she took in the pale fabric that was molded to her skin. The intricate lace that laid over the smooth fabric underneath. The bodice that wrapped her in and made her waist look smaller than it had ever looked. The soft fall of the shoulder to her arms, allowed only a modest amount of cleavage to show. The long train that trailed behind her.
"Octavia. This is perfect." She said as she met the green eyes in the mirror as Octavia approached her from behind, a wisp of material in her hands which she lifted to drape over Clarke's head.
"Now, it's perfect." She said, moving off to the side again.
Clarke could hear her mother's tears before she moved so Clarke could see her in the mirror. It was clear that she wanted to say something but didn't want to ruin the peace they had. "Mom?" She said. "I wish Dad was here to see this."
"Me too, sweetheart." Abby agreed as she sniffled despite the wide smile on her face. "Me too."
They both turned back to look at the stunning dress in the mirror for a moment before the dressmaker called her back so that she could take the dress to make the final preparations. Abby pulled her into a hug before saying she was leaving to check both of the boy's injuries again.
When Clarke returned to Bellamy's room, he was resting in bed again and true to his word, Lincoln was still there a book in hand. Letting it thump closed when she rested her hand on his shoulder. He gave her an easy smile as he stood from his seat and left without a word.
"Princess?" Bellamy's groggy voice asked.
She moved towards the bed. "I'm here Bell." She said as she crawled up beside him, resting her head on the pillow next to him.
"Good." He said, rolling towards her with a groan.
"I really wish you wouldn't move so much." She told him before pressing a kiss to his lips. "My mother should be here to check your wound shortly."
He hummed, finally opening his eyes to look at her. "How was the dress?"
"Oh, Bell. It was beautiful. I can't wait for you to see me in it." She said as she snuggled into him further. "Did you have a good visit with Lincoln?"
He smiled at the change of subject. "Yes, it was good. We talked about a lot of things that needed discussing."
"Good." She said pressing her lips against his again more firmly. His hand finding its way into her hair.
XXXXXXXXXX
The next 36 hours flew by, having slept through most of it, and before he knew it, he was getting dressed in the formal outfit of the commander. Dress armor was gently laid over his shoulder and extra padding was layered over his wound to soften the press of the metal against it. He pressed the sign of the commander between his brows and allowed Lincoln to paint his face for the wedding.
The moved to the set up that had been arranged so their people could watch the joining of their two people. Titus stood at the altar; his book laid open in front of him. The pale ceremonial robes floated around his lanky form. Bellamy gritted his teeth as he looked at the Flame keeper, his anger at what he had tried to do, clenched his jaw. Turning away he looked out to the sea of faces, all of them his people. He saw a pocket of Sky people off to the side near where Clarke would stand. Wells and Kane stood around Abby who looked as if she had already been crying; the older man had his hand resting on her shoulder as she leaned towards him.
Murphy who looked marginally better than he had the last time he'd seen him, when he'd been tied up, leaning against Clarke's bed. His lips were twisted up in a smirk as Bellamy met his eye, a waste lander girl at his side. The voice of the singer, rose above the din, drawing his eye to the end of the aisle.
His breath staggered in his chest when she appeared, Lincoln and Octavia trailing behind her. The veil over her head was sheer but still obscured him from getting a good look at her. The dress fit her like a glove, before flaring out at the knee, he could see her bare feet kicking out from under the dress every so often as she made her way to him. When she neared him, he held out his hand to her drawing her up the steps to stand in front of him.
Titus' voice rose and fell in the lilting way of the Flame keepers as he talked about traditions that they were being upheld by him and Clarke, though he hardly listened as he took in Clarke in the gorgeous dress. He could see her wide smile beneath the veil and the heavy makeup that adorned her face. He struggled to contain his own answering smile, still aware that their people were watching them and that this was to be a political marriage to them.
He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand that rested in his. He could feel her heavy gaze on his from under the veil as her own thumb danced along his hand. Titus clearing his throat brought him slightly out of his daze, he repeated the words to Clarke, pledging himself to her and her people unconditionally. She repeated them back, her mastery of their language was slightly surprising.
Finally, he was told to pull the veil back off her face, allowing him to get his first good glimpse of her. The heavy paint on her face was drawing the focus to her intense blue eyes, making them stand out, sharp against the paleness of her skin. Her smile which had been wide when she was covered tightened to only a small hint of the glee that radiated from her eyes.
A knife was given to him. As the words were recited over them, he turned her hand over, drawing the blade over her palm enough for her red blood to pool in her palm before handing the knife to her. She turned his hand over drawing the knife over his, the sting of the knife barely noticeable against the happiness he felt. They turned to the crowd with heads held high before clasping their hands together, blood dripping between their fingers to the ground below.
"As your blood mingles, as this tie binds," Titus said as he tied their bleeding hands together. "I now proclaim your union sealed. May your two people know only peace from here on."
A cheer rose from the crowd. Louder than he'd expected given the hatred of the sky people that had seemed to permeate every crevice of polis. The cry of "Heda" and "Wanheda" chased them as they moved towards the tower where a small feast was prepared for his closest advisors, generals and the contingent of sky people.
They wandered ahead of the group that was to follow shortly. He laced their fingers together even as the tie bound them. Bellamy looked back to make sure they were still alone for the moment before pulling Clarke into his chest. His free hand caressing her cheek and pulling her towards his as he dipped down to meet her lips. Their smiles interrupted the kiss before it could build in intensity.
"My wife." He breathed against her lips with a smile. His nose running along hers.
She chuckled, "My husband." Her hand reaching up to rest against his chest.
The sound of footsteps approaching had them pulling back and straightening themselves before preceding into the formal dining room.
They moved towards the marriage seat at the head of the table. Their fingers lacing once they were out of sight once again. His thumb tracing hers softly. The conversation that flowed between their people was surprisingly civil and he could tell that Clarke was struggling as much as he was to pay attention to the conversations that were meant to distract them from what was a strained political marriage.
But her toes continued to trace up and down his leg and her knees nudged his every so often, distracting him. He was no better as he moved their linked hands closer to her dragging a finger up and down the outside of her thigh, being mindful of their still bleeding hands, so not to get blood on her ivory dress. Her legs clenched tightly as her eyes met his intense stare before the dropped to her lap watching the action. He sucked in a quiet breath before turning away from her, praying for the dinner to finish more quickly
XXXXXXXXXX
They were expected to keep their hands tied together through the first night of the marriage. "To build a strong partnership for the many years that would come before them." Titus had explained to her while he explained their customs around marriage, being that they didn't hold marriage ceremonies for couples that chose their own partners. They were expected to consummate the marriage within that first 24-hour window while they were still bound together. Though his words had left her blushing she couldn't help but think that would be no problem for them.
The stepped into their room with two attendants who helped them to undress while they maintained the connection as best they could, linking their free hands when they untied the rope to free their clothes from that side before tying them back together. She was clothed in thin white fabric that draped down to her feet. It slipped over her head and tied at her sides and no undergarments were left on. When she turned to look at Bellamy, he was similarly clothed.
As the attendants left, they set up screens to hide the bed, before she heard the scraping of chairs behind the screen. She looked over to Bellamy as they climbed into the bed. She knew that they would have people in the room for this to confirm that they had "consummated", but she couldn't stop the blush from rise to her cheeks.
"Are you sure we should be doing this with your shoulder?" She whispered to him as they rolled into each other. His hand cupping her face as he looked down into her eyes that were now clear of the heavy paint that had been on her for the ceremony, though the intricate braids had been left.
She could hear the sound of someone getting settled and she prayed it was not her mother as the Skaikru representative. Her blush grew deeper as he reminded her quietly, they didn't have a choice. She sucked in a deep breath as she nodded.
"Hey," he whispered, rubbing his thumb on the fragile skin under her eye. "We can do this. It's just once and then we have our whole life ahead of us. And after tonight what happens behind our doors is just for us."
She exhaled as she nodded. "Okay."
He pressed his forehead to hers and the feel of his nose rubbing against hers sent tingles sliding down her back. She pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I know your uncomfortable, but I'll try to make this good for you."
She smiled in thanks as she closed her eyes pressing herself closer to him, their tied hands laced together between them. "Don't make it too good." She whispered back with a small chuckle. "We don't want them to know we've done this before."
He laughed quietly but it was loud in her ear as he trailed his free hand up and down her side before slipping in between the fabric ties to rest against her skin. She tried to let herself get lost in the feel of his hand on her, but she knew that she would not be able to completely let go.
Clarke decided that she was going to take this into her own hands and get this over and done with so they could move forward. Reaching down between the folds of his garment, she palmed his length. He groaned at the first touch of her hand, dropping his head backwards against the pillow with a softly muttered, "shit." Her hand moved quicker as she started to feel him harden against her palm.
"Slow down, Clarke." He murmured as he grabbed her wrist, slowing her movements.
She shook her head as she pushed him over to his back before straddling him. She reached down between them and pulled up the flowy material out from between her legs, bunching it up around her waist before pulling his up to expose him to the air. She lowered herself over him allowing her heat to slide against his still hardening member.
She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes until she felt him run his thumb under her eye again. "Look at me, Clarke." He commanded her softly. "There is no rush."
She leaned down towards him as she continued to undulate against him. His own eyes closing before he flashed them back up towards her face. "I'm going to be uncomfortable for this no matter what you do. Just let me get this over with before I can't and then we can move forward and have me however you want. Plus, if I do all the heavy lifting then I don't have to worry about your stitches getting pulled."
He looked at her for a moment though he couldn't stop the groan from falling off his lips before he closed his eyes and nodded. When she reached down between them, he was still not fully hard and she could tell he was just as uncomfortable as she was, but he was hard enough to get through this. She sank down onto him and she struggled to keep her own groan from falling off her lips at the sensation.
She moved her hips over him as she increased her pace. "Fuck, Clarke." He muttered.
She felt his hand move up her leg before he pressed his thumb against her clit. She couldn't stop the squeal that left her lips though she pressed her hand to her mouth hoping to clamp down on any more noises. She couldn't slow her breathing though as she felt him groan underneath her, his thumb still stroking in time with each movement of her hips.
"Clarke, I'm close." He whispered.
She leaned over him again. "It's okay, you feel so good in me, but I'm not going to get there tonight." He picked up the pace of his thumb and she groaned in his ear. "It's okay. You can finish and make it up to me."
She pulled their laced, bound hands above them as she pressed harder and faster on to him. He pressed back into the pillow below him groaning, his hand falling free of her clit. His hips pressed up into her as he came, a groan falling off his lips, her own groan matching his as she felt him thick and warm inside as he shuddered below her. When there was only heavy breathing between him, she moved off him and nestled into his shoulder.
The sound of the two people who had been present, leaving the room, met her ears before she sighed into his shoulder. When they heard the door click closed Bellamy, pressed a kiss to her head before he trailed down her body disappearing underneath the fabric of her gown and between her thighs. Their bound hands laying at her side. He pressed his tongue down hard against her and when the first finger on his free hand entered her, his pace fast and relentless, she forgot everything but his name.
