Chapter 17

When Anya woke Taylor up later, night was beginning to fall around the camp and the deadline the commander had set Skykru to hand over Finn was running out.

"The execution will begin soon" Anya informed the blonde doctor in a soft tone.

The other woman was rubbing at her eyes groggily while she sat up underneath the furs covering the bed.

"Okay…" Taylor said with a slight yaw, while Anya's words actually started to register within her foggy mind. She got up and out of the bed quickly while she looked around the tent for Lexa. Unfortunately, the commander was no where in sight.

"Where is Lexa?" the blonde doctor questioned curiously. She thankfully was able to stand up and stretch herself relatively painless now, most likely thanks to the last tea she had drunk before falling asleep earlier.

"The commander is already at the side of the execution" Anya said easily "You were right by the way Indra and her warriors are bringing the assassin now".

"Oh wow, that was quick" Taylor commented thoughtfully. She somehow had expected that there would be more time before the execution took place.

"Lexa expects us there in a few moments" Anya did not react to Taylor's comment. The general was occupied with dressing herself. She was still missing her usual clothing, having been stripped of that by the Mountain Men and Lexa had arranged some substitute clothing for her.

Taylor herself fetched the coat she had been given for the journey here and dressed into it. "Where is the cloakroom here?" she questioned the general hastily.

Anya slightly raised a brow, but she explained the direction to Taylor "Hurry yourself though" she ordered. She would have preferred to accompany the doctor, but the camp was filled with warriors right now, so, nothing should happen to her.

Taylor nodded her head in agreement. She could only hope now that she would be able to interfere with Clarke. She was not sure if telling Anya about what Clarke was planning to do would be of any help. Taylor feared that Anya would react too strongly and before she could make up her mind if telling Anya might indeed be a good idea, the general inclined her head and turned on her feet, leaving the tent with quick strides.

She sighed under her breath, remaining within the tent just for a brief moment longer. Taylor shivered slightly when she finally stepped out of the tent.

The warriors who she encountered on the way Anya had described to her where all clad in gear ready for a battle, including threatening face masks. None of them did anything though to come closer to her, Taylor could feel their gazes follow her. She could only guess that Lexa's proclamation to Indra about her being a blessing sent by the flame to support the commander was already being gossiped through the camp. She was fairly certain though that Lexa would have proclaimed herself being under the commander's protection.

Taylor quickly found the way to the cloakroom and she was already on the way back towards the commander's tent and the impending execution, when she caught on to something strange in a small tent close to her.

The front of the tent was guarded, but the guards of this particular tent were diverted by Indra and her warriors bringing Finn through the camp right in front of them.

Taylor saw movements in the back of the tent and she instinctively stepped closer to the small tent to investigate just what was going on there. She immediately had a very bad feeling about this somehow.

She wanted to alert the warriors, but the two young men were already following Indra and the other warriors, obviously eager to watch the execution.

Taylor stepped closer to the back of the tent quickly and her bad feelings got confirmed when the material suddenly gave away with a ripping sound and no one other than Thelonious Jaha himself climbed through the hole in the tent.

She quickened her steps knowing that the man was not allowed to leave the camp. Taylor looked around frantically, but she unfortunately could not spot any other warriors in her proximity.

"Hey!" she called out to the man loudly.

Jaha's head immediately whipped around to her and Taylor was nearly close enough to him to reach out and grasp on to one of his arms.

Thelonious visibly seemed confused and alarmed for a moment, before he seized Taylor and obviously decided that she was no threat to him.

Taylor's lips thinned in rising annoyance. If there was one thing she hated, it was being underestimated for some reason. The problem now though was that Thelonious quite obviously was stronger than her physically. Taylor made a mental note to ask Lexa and Anya to at least teach her some basic fighting moves. There was no necessity for her to become a proficient warrior, but at least knowing the basics might safe her in this weird world one day.

"You can't leave" Taylor said in a pretended strong tone, trying to interfere with Jaha's way.

The dark-skinned man's features twisted into a mocking expression "I am certainly not going to be held up by you" he sneered.

Taylor tried to plant her feet strongly on the ground as she placed herself directly in front of him and held up her hands as if she planned to hit him.

Jaha did not appear impressed at all and gave Taylor a push, dodging her badly-aimed punch and instead punching her in the face himself.

Taylor gave a grunt of pain when the man brought her to her knees and when she tried to make a grab for his legs, the man backhanded her strongly.

Taylor's head collided with a rock on the ground and as she tried to get up again, Jaha had already gotten out of her reach.

"Damn!" Taylor cussed in agitation. She got to her feet as quickly as possible and tried to hurry behind the man, but before she could catch up with him, Jaha had disappeared in the impending darkness between the trees.

"Damn, damn, damn…" Taylor continued to cuss under her breath. They were extremely close to Skykru's camp and she did not remember just when Thelonious Jaha had gathered the few other members to seek for the city of light. Was it even possible for her to change things from happening?

The warriors in the distance had begun to chant "Jus drein, jus daun" on endless repeat. So, Taylor knew that Finn's execution was about to start.

Taylor stood rooted in place for a moment. Should she follow Jaha?

She sighed under her breath. The wound on her abdomen was pulsing painfully again from the sudden fall and she knew that her sense of direction was horrible. She highly doubted that she would find her way through the dark woods and not get lost.

She shook her head. She could not leave the camp without alerting Lexa and Anya. Both of them would be worried and Taylor could not judge what would happen if she were to enter Skykru's camp alone.

No, she needed to return to Lexa and Anya. Taylor rubbed at her temple in annoyance as she could feel blood trickle down the side of her face slowly. She already knew that she would have a number of bruises and she had skimmed her hands during her fall as well.

Anya was slowly getting impatient. The Skykru assassin had already been shackled to the pole and was waiting for his execution now. It was obvious that he was afraid. But what was taking Taylor so long?

Lexa already seemed to get impatient as well and her green eyes kept on darting towards the commander's tent. She stepped closer to Anya shortly "Where is Yssa again?" she asked in a sharp tone.

"She just wanted to go to the cloakroom quickly" Anya answered in an agitated tone. It was exactly what she had told Lexa only a few minutes ago. "She should have been back by now" she added through clenched teeth, internally debating if she should go looking for the doctor, wondering if something could have happened to her.

"If she does not appear soon, search for her" Lexa finally ordered in a brisk tone. She was about to order the execution to start, when Taylor suddenly appeared.

Anya noticed even from far that the blonde woman was slightly staggering on her feet and as she got nearer, she also noticed a trail of along one side of the blonde's head. With a furrowed brow, she immediately stepped closer to Taylor. Something had clearly happened to her. How could something happen to the doctor in a camp filled with warriors?

"What happened to you?" Anya immediately questioned the blonde woman in concern when she stood in front of her. There were even more wounds on Taylor's body up close.

"Jaha…" Taylor brought out a little breathless, pressing a hand against the strongly hurting wound on her abdomen "…he got away. I tried to hold him up, but…" she inhaled strongly again.

Lexa had come closer as well now and she also looked worried at the doctor's clearly battered up state.

"…he overpowered me" Taylor rasped a little "I tried, but I was not strong enough" she said in deep regret.

Lexa sighed under her breath, remembering the doctor's warning about the man. She could not understand how one man had managed to escape now alone after she had put the tent under guard herself.

The warriors and other generals were all waiting for the execution to start though.

"You can go and lie down if you prefer" Lexa offered in a rather soft tone. She knew that it was not Taylor's fault that Jaha had gotten away. The two guards who had been responsible for watching his tent on the other hand would be seen to by her later though. They had clearly been sloppy in their assigned task and if anything, then they were to blame for the man being able to flee.

Taylor shook her head though. She needed to stay here. Right when she wanted to speak up about what would happen now with Clarke, a path behind them was already cleared for the blonde Skykru leader.

"Come" Anya said to Taylor, gently placing a hand behind the doctor's back while Lexa had already turned around and joined Indra and Gustus. The dark-skinned warrior was getting impatient.

Taylor nodded slightly and when she joined the other warriors with Anya it was the first time that she looked over to Finn.

The last time she had seen the young man, he had blindly and in a completely crazed rage been shooting at the defenceless villagers of TonDC, shooting 18 innocent villagers.

Nothing showed his rage now. Even from the distance, Taylor could see how ghostly white Finn appeared to be. It was hard to make out his features exactly, but it was obvious that he was afraid.

Taylor was internally debating with herself if she should just warn Anya now and try to give Lexa a subtle hint.

She knew that it brought Lexa problems with her people that Clarke had interfered with the execution and mercy-killed Finn. Maybe this had been the point where the young leader was truly beginning to lose the faith of the coalition. Otherwise though it had been important for Skykru to see how the grounders really worked. Right now, they had no real idea about Trikru and their form of justice system.

"Anya" Taylor tried to whisper to the general.

The older woman slightly rubbed over the doctor's back as a sign that she was indeed listening.

"I need to speak to the commander!" Clarke's demanding tone wafted over to them.

Taylor looked over to Clarke, realizing that the other blonde was already too near to them now.

"Are you dizzy?" Anya asked in a worried tone, fearing that something was wrong with the doctor.

Taylor shook her head in the negative, while Indra intercepted Clarke's way with a raised speer, just as she had done in the show was well.

"Let her pass" Lexa called out to Indra. Although obviously with reluctance, the dark-skinned warrior obeyed.

"You bleed for nothing. You cannot stop this" Lexa said as soon was Clarke standing in front of her.

Taylor looked slightly over her shoulder towards Anya.

"Something is wrong?" Anya had leaned forward a little whispering into her ear.

Taylor subtly shook her head. Gustus was already looking into their direction now, there simply was no possibility for Taylor now to say anything without someone hearing it.

"Only you can" Clarke said with emphasis, looking at the commander with a pleading expression "Show my people how powerful you are. Show them that you can be merciful."

Taylor could almost hear the torment in the blonde's tone. She threw a glance at Anya, giving her a nod to show her that she should not worry, before she stepped closer to Lexa and Clarke, positioning herself in a way that she could look at the other blonde woman.

Taylor tried to subtly catch the blonde's attention. Indeed, Clarke shortly looked at her and Taylor quickly tried to mouth "DON'T!" to her, looking at her pointedly.

Lexa of course caught this short exchange and her expression showed her confusion.

Unfortunately, Clarke only faltered for a second, before she continued "Show them you are not a savage" her tone was pleading and her blue eyes were desperate.

Indra and Gustus shuffled angrily at Clarke's words and Taylor felt Lexa tensing next to her. She knew that Clarke had chosen exactly the wrong words. She did not know if there would have been anything which could have swayed Lexa to be merciful on Finn.

"We are what we are" Lexa said with fury evident in her green eyes and her face hard as stone. Taylor felt the internal need to reach out and comfort her, but she knew that she could not right now without causing a scene.

Clarke was getting more and more desperate by the second, as the other girl must have recognized her failure to sway the commander already.

"I am a killer. I burnt three hundred of your warriors. I slid a man's throat and watched him die. I am soaked in grounder blood" Clarke continued and her voice sounded slightly trembling. She looked at Anya for a short moment and the guilt only seemed to intensify.

The general had stepped directly behind Taylor again, sensing that something was going on which the doctor was trying to prevent, but she did not know what. Hearing about her warriors again, felt like a dagger to the heart. Taylor could hear her inhale sharply and she looked over her shoulder at her in sympathy.

Lexa only cast a short glance at Finn and looked back at Clarke, her face an expressionless mask and she remained resolutely silent.

"Take me" Clarke had started to plead in earnest now, voice shaky and tears glistening in her blue eyes.

The commander had to silently give the blonde leader credit for her bravery. It was obvious how much the boy must mean to her or she would not offer her own life in exchange to save his. But there was no possibility to take someone's place in such a punishment, her people would never accept such a thing.

"Finn is guilty" Lexa only answered with a piercing stare. She could feel her warrior's restlessness rising with every passing moment and this discussion was not rewarding to anything.

Taylor shortly glanced at Finn and the boy seemed to be watching their exchange with watering eyes. He must have been aware that changing his fate was impossible. Taylor silently asked herself if the boy might not even think that he deserved the punishment he would get.

"No" Clarke denied vehemently "He did it for me". Taylor could see the blonde's eyes watering as she repeated in a whiny voice "He did it for me…" Her voice completely gave out on her on the last words.

"Then he dies for you" Lexa said in an even tone and the commander seemed completely unmoved by Clarke's admission.

Taylor could see the hope Clarke had obviously still held onto desperately, vanish from her eyes and she let her shoulders sag in defeat. The blonde looked at Finn one more time, who had taken to looking at the sky above them, and looked back at the commander "Can I say goodbye?" she asked in a thick tone.

Taylor once again tried to catch Clarke's attention and shook her head at her with desperate eyes, but Clarke only met her gaze for a moment and her blue eyes turned hard.

Gustus and Indra frowned at the question, but Lexa seemed to consider it for a moment, before she merely inclined her head to signal her permission.

Both of them watched as Clarke slowly went over to Finn and hugged him. They were standing too far away from the pole to hear the words the blonde was obviously whispering into his ears. From the shaking of Clarke's shoulders, Taylor was sure the girl was crying now. Finn smiled at Clarke and whispered something back to her.

After a long moment what seemed like a small eternity later, Clarke finally moved away from Finn with tears streaming down her cheeks. Taylor could see how Finn's body had sagged in the chains and his head had fallen onto his chest and with a harsh breath she realized that Finn had already died. A small knife dripping with blood laid in Clarke's hands and it took the warriors around the pole only a short moment before they also caught on to what had transpired.

Outraged shouts could be heard all around them and Indra and some others had already drawn their weapons again and were clearly intending on attacking Clarke.

Lexa looked shocked for a slight moment, looking at Taylor with widened green eyes for affirmation that this had been meant to happen, before she pulled her warriors to a stop with a simple gesture of her hand. "It is done" the commander declared in a steady loud voice.