"Mina!"
At the sound of Bellamy Blake's voice, Mina looked up from the bowl of stew she had been eating. She saw Bellamy standing at the door to the canteen, and he raised a hand to beckon her over. Her chair scrapped as she pushed it back, before standing and hurrying over to him.
"Come with me." He said before she could ask what was happening, and she hurried after him as he turned and marched down the corridor. They walked along in silence for a minute or so before Mina asked hesitantly
"What's going on Bellamy?"
He didn't or couldn't answer her question and just said
"Clarke will explain." As they came to a halt outside of the chancellor's office. Bellamy held the door open for the smaller girl and they both entered.
When she walked inside, Mina found herself face to face with Clarke and Abby Griffin , Marcus Kane, Raven Reyes and the grounder Lincoln.
Lincoln's eyes flitted over the girl the others had selected. He vaguely recognised her, but she was a lot smaller than he had dimly remembered, smaller still than Octavia with an unruly tangle of deep dark red, almost brown, hair that fell in short waves to just below the top of her shoulders. Her short stature was made to look even more fragile by her thin frame, which seemed to be bordering on the edge of underfed and the brown doe eyes blinking out of her pale face were focused on Clarke who had began to speak.
"Look Mina, I'm not going to beat around the bush here. The Commander has made an arrangement, between the Ice Nation and us in order to try and keep the peace. She's ordered that the new King be married to someone from Skaikru. To give our clans some kind of common ground, to make it more difficult for war to start. A union with Ice Nation gives us that." Clarke broke off as she saw realisation dawn in Mina's face and the girl said slowly
"and you want it to be me." The words sounded slightly disbelieving. Around the room everyone was reacting differently. Lincoln was expressionless while Raven looked bored. Kane and Abby were looking grimly determined and Bellamy was leant against the wall scowling but every now and then shooting slightly sad looks at Mina.
"Why?" she asked, eyes wide and confused.
Nervous.
Afraid.
Now it was Kane's turn to speak, walking around and standing on Clarke's left.
"It wasn't an easy decision Mina, I assure you it wasn't. You feel like our best option. You're young, you're smart, you've adapted to the ground well. But the fact is, is that you are on your own, you have no familial or romantic attachments here. Reports show that you're guard training is not progressing as we would like. But you are strong Mina, you survived being part of the 100 and being alone out there for days before patrols found you after the camp fell. I wouldn't be supporting this if I thought you couldn't handle the responsibility."
Mina considered his words for a moment before saying hesitantly
"Ice Nation killed nearly all of farm station, what if somethi-"
"We won't send you unprotected." Said Kane firmly "Lincoln's already volunteered to go with you. He will keep you safe Mina."
Mina's brown eyes darted to the man stood in the corner and he gave a resolute nod in agreement with Kane's words.
After staying quiet for so long Abby finally spoke, her voice calm and calculating
"If not you, then our next choice is Laura."
Mina stared at Abby in surprise, the expression on her face clearly saying without words
"You can't be serious"
Laura, had only just turned 16 and was one of the last survivors of farm station. The girl was a mess, a combination of permanent anxiety and fear at everything. There was no way she would be able to handle this.
Which was exactly why Abby was saying it.
"Okay." Mina said, in a voice barely above a whisper. Kane nodded grimly and said as kindly as he could
"You're doing a good thing here Mina. We need permanent bonds with the grounders, especially Azgeda. You can give us that" he said earnestly and Mina attempted to smile weakly at him.
"Come on" said Clarke walking towards the door "I'll help you pack."
"Whe-when am I-"
"Two days" came Bellamy's hard voice.
"Oh. Ok." Was the only reply she could come up with, as she followed Clarke from the room.
"I wish you didn't have to do this, really I do." Said Clarke as she handed one of Mina's three shirts to her.
"It's ok Clarke. I get it. I'm alone and expendable so it makes sense to send me before anyone else." Mina seemed to have found her voice again now, and her voice was oddly calm, with only the occasional tremble on a word.
"If I coul-"
But Clarke stopped when Mina let out a small laugh.
"What?" asked the blonde.
"Nothing. I just sort of knew you would have tried to volunteer." Answered Mina as Clarke smiled a little embarrassedly.
"Am I that obvious?"
Mina just nodded in response, and Clarke sighed
"Yes. I put myself on the list. Bellamy and the others wouldn't let me volunteer though."
"Are you surprised?" asked Mina sitting on the edge of her bed.
Clarke gave her a questioning look and Mina nearly laughed at the other girl.
"Jesus Clarke. People here need you. Whether they realise it or not. They rely on you. Kane, your mom, Raven, they all need you. And Bellamy? That's one of the reasons I said yes."
"What are you talking about?" asked Clarke and Mina gave her a sly smile.
"Well I was worried Bellamy might have a heart attack if you got married."
Laughing, Clarke walked over and to Minas surprise gave her a tight hug. The girls had known each other on the Ark but had never been particularly close, social status keeping them apart except for lessons. But here and now Mina clung to Clarke like she was her own mom. Blinking furiously, to hold back tears she said into Clarke's shoulder
"What if I can't do this Clarke?"
"You can. I know you can." Soothed Clarke, her heart tugging a little at the other girl's words.
TA DA!
So meet my little Mina.
She's the unlucky (or lucky depending on where you stand) selected girl.
Let me know what you think!
More soon.
Geronimo xx