Clarke groaned when she saw Murphy storming dramatically out of the Council Hall. She quickly averted her gaze, but she could still hear him stomping in her direction.

"I've quit," he shouted gleefully.

"You can't quit."

"It's for the good of us all. I'm keeping our musical chair leadership tradition alive. The tradition you started. It's an excellent system. The leader resigns before people start shouting off-with-their-head. I like my head, so I'm resigning as of two minutes ago."

"It isn't the right time and you know it. Stop being lazy."

"Hey, I put my hand up for Supreme Leader twice. I'm not lazy."

"Murphy," Clarke growled. "Get back in there or I'll take over as 'Supreme Leader' and sentence you to sewage watch for a month. You can quit next week, if you solve the Blueberry feud."

He threw up his hands with a wide grin. "Fine. Fine. Now that I can tell everyone that you're next in line for the throne, I'll have the feud solved in ten minutes. You were a real hard-ass last time. They won't want Clarke Griffin as their judge and executioner."

She had actually only agreed to play bad cop at Raven's request. Raven, her predecessor, had needed volunteers for her next big engineering project, and she hadn't wanted to alienate anyone. Raven was the devious one, and Clarke was the sucker who had melted at her puppy-dog eyes. But Murphy didn't need to know that. She didn't want to give him any grand ideas.

"Exactly," she said with a wink. "And now I've had peace and quiet for months."

"The sounds coming from your tent at night say otherwise." He returned her wink. "Speak of the devil," he added in a louder voice.

"Murphy," Bellamy grunted in greeting.

"No lectures. I'm on my way back to the Council session now. Enjoy your peace and quiet."

"We will," Clarke shouted after him.

"So, we're busted, huh?" His tone was woeful, but his grin was wide.

"Yep."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

Clarke kissed him fiercely in view of their whole village. "No. Because now no one will bother us with petty politics for weeks. Half of them will be tiptoeing around waiting for us to blow up, and the other half will be too happy for us to rain on our parade."

"And Murphy will keep holding down the fort?"

"He will. He was just messing around. He's in it for the long haul."

"I'm relieved that Murphy is in charge. Murphy." Bellamy shook his head. "Do you ever regret starting this crazy mess with that dramatic exit of yours?"

"Never," Clarke declared. "It's our crazy mess."