A/N: This is a filling chapter, there's not much about anyone, it's more about developments between Lexa and Hatan's interaction. A couple more chapters and the war will begin, after the war, Lexa and Clarke can meet, who's happy?
Who wants Faith to die?
There must be so many mistakes in this one, I wrote it super quickly.
I mostly use the italic for sentences written in English but meant to be in another language, be it Trigedasleng or Italian. And if there are no " " it's someone's thoughts.
Also... I'm looking for a beta to go over the story and help me with a few points and to get new ideas, so if you want to help me, contact me on tumblr my username is justawordunsaid or on twitter Sara_NobodyO
If you like it, please leave a review! Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Five: Trust
Lexa grows more and more anxious as time passes. She knows what people have been saying about Clarke, Wanheda. Some believe that who kills her will get her power, the strength of the Destroyer of the Mountain, and if that's why the Queen wants her, Clarke likely is already dead and Lexa will only reach Ice to exact revenge. Revenge for what? What right has she got to exact revenge for the death of the very person she was the first to betray and leave to die?
Abby looks as restless as Lexa is, and the Commander can't blame the woman for the glares she often sends her way.
Hatan seems to pick up on the atmosphere as one day he joins her at dinner and dares speak his mind.
"There's something more personal for you about this war, Heda", the Ice people's bluntness showing in his forward approach.
She spends long minutes considering whether it'd be alright to tell him about Clarke.
"Is it finally getting revenge?"
She turns to him, surprise barely showing on her face.
He smiles sadly, "We know of how the Queen killed your lover to have revenger for her daughter's death".
Maybe Lexa should let him believe that's the answer, but somehow she finds herself telling him about Clarke. She doesn't dare say anything about her feelings, although he seems to catch up on them, but she tells him how she betrayed Clarke at the Mountain and how she can't do it again. She then tries to cover it up claiming she made a deal with the Skaikru, the aid of their weapons in war in exchange for the Trikru's help in saving Clarke.
Hatan doesn't seem convinced by the political excuse, but he accepts her answer and, as a good Ice person, sees behind her words, through her eyes. He sees worry, fear, regret, sorrow and maybe something resembling love before Lexa puts her mask back on, impenetrable as always.
They decide to accept Livio's help, he seems trustworthy and even Malaya is convinced of their choice by the time they go back to the camp. Malaya, Xavier, Kora and Goral all leave in different directions while Nyx makes her way back to her camp and finds Clarke waiting for her.
"Liri received a message from Kyra."
Nyx immediately follows her in her tent and Clarke tells her a messenger arrived shortly after she left that day, he reported a message from Kyra saying the Moon Clan will help, they're sending a small army that should be upon Ice in a week.
Nyx can't be more grateful as she sends message to Malaya to inform her of the good news before talking to Clarke about Livio and Elia.
Still the blonde doesn't agree with Nyx's decision to trust a soldier, but the choice has been made and she hopes for the best. Now they have to concentrate on scouting the city and organising the attack, they only have one week before the beginning of a war. They have to go through their plans and fix the few holes left by the uncertainty of the Moon Clan's help. So Clarke says no more and sits at the table with Nyx, discussing all the possible situations over and over.
But then Aeryn enters the tent, a worried expression clear on her pale face.
"Faith is not in the camp, no one has seen her for hours".
Octavia is marching with Hatan, showering him with questions about the clans. He laughs at the sky girl's curiosity but he always answers her with a kind smile and gentle voice.
"The Boat People are famous for their parties maybe even more than for their sailing skills."
Octavia laughs and states that she absolutely has to visit their clan one day, Hatan shakes his head at the girl's lightness literally in the middle of an army but goes on nonetheless.
"Cloud People are famous for their handiwork, they work the wood and make beautiful objects out of it."
"And children's toys. They make the best games for children." Sylvia joins the conversation, her voice light.
"Or they did. Even when the Coalition stood, the trade was not as happy as the stories tell, the Queen cast a shadow not only over our Nation, but over her allies too. The Cloud People haven't traded games in a long time."
"They also say the Cloud People were musicians, they say their songs were wonderful and moving and that they could make musical instruments and play them in the most touching way." the girl adds, eyes lost in the forest.
Hatan looks sad for a moment. "It is true what they say. I heard their songs when I was a child, my father took me on a journey across the clans nearby, we visited the Cloud People and heard their music, it truly is wonderful."
"What happened to your father?" Octavia asks in a cautious voice.
Hatan shrugs, "The soldiers killed him not long after we came back from that journey."
Sylvia nods and Octavia can't help but notice how normal it seems for them to say it "The soldiers killed him", as if it were the most likely explanation for someone's death.
"Which other clans did you see?" she presses on, trying to change the subject and reverse the conversation to something happier.
He smiles then, and tells her about the Horse People, he didn't see much of their clan, they barely travelled inside their territory, but he talks about the best meat he ever tried and the green lands he has seen. Then he speaks of the Trikru, how his father lead him from the Horse People to the Tree Clan, barely visiting the Shadow People before going to the Sword Clan. It wasn't the perfect time to travel, the Coalition was not yet established, there was a great tension between Trikru and Azgeda and travelling in Horse and Tree lands probably wasn't the best idea, but his father wanted him to see as much as he could of the other clans, learn about them, understand their differences and respect them.
Sometimes Sylvia joins in, throwing a comment on Trikru's skills in hunting and the Shadow people's ability in planting setting traps as well as avoiding them.
"The Shadow People also have good things" Hatan reprimands gently.
"Yeah, for example they poison their knives so that they only need to cut you a little and you will start hallucinating and they will easily win the fight. Or maybe the poison will make you lose control over your movements and you will find it difficult to put a foot in front of the other and will not be able to fight back. Their lands are full of dangerous mutated plants and they are masters in using them." Sylvia shoots back.
Octavia thinks that maybe there is a clan she can avoid visiting, the Shadow People don't sound too nice.
Hatan shrugs again, "They also have delicious fruits though, and some of those same plants you talk about can save a life, they can be used as poison or they can be used as remedy. Once the Shadow People and the Moon Clan had the best healers of the twelve clans. Where Moon has knowledge and resources, Shadow has the help of nature itself."
Sylvia grumbles something Octavia can't catch but it makes Hatan laugh and shakes his head at the fellow rebel.
"I also saw the Moon Clan, probably the most magnificent of all." he says as lost in his own thoughts.
"Why is that?"
He turns towards Octavia but only looks at her with amused eyes before telling her she will have to see for herself one day.
What are you suppose to do when you're dying? Are you supposed to plea your killer, are you supposed to hold on to pride and invite them to hell? Are you supposed to forgive them?
Faith doesn't know, thoughts are speeding through her mind and she can't get a hold on any of them. The knife cuts her skin and she can't bring herself to scream, she can only stare in brown eyes that are warm no longer.
She should have stayed at the camp, she should have listened to Nyx and Malaya when they said they all needed to avoid being seen by Ontari, she should have known better than to think that an old friendship could still mean something to the Queen's right hand. Now it's too late and she's going to die looking at scars that don't belong on the beautiful face in front of her.
She finds that her last thought then is not about Nyx, not about her family, not about the rebellion, not about lost friendship, it's about those scars and their reason to be there. What do they mean, how did Ontari get them? Are they proof of skills, or do they stand for deaths, could they be a punishment?
She holds on to the warrior's arms as the knife moves against her throat. She closes her eyes at the warm feeling of blood dripping down her neck.
Hatan watches as Lexa gets more and more restless, anxiety rolling off her in waves, the Commander's mask barely keeping the emotions from showing. He considers again telling her about Clarke. He could simply tell her the Sky Princess has not been captured and is safe with another group of rebels.
He doesn't because he fears that she will change her mind, but again she could change her mind now in order to safe the girl, she could want to avoid the Ice army and head straight to Ice for the Queen and Hatan can't allow that. He's not sure about what to do but when she finds her yelling at some warriors for a trivial matter he can see all her cracks and, as someone who knows loss and grief very well, he can't stand to watch the great Commander fall apart like that.
He's the only one who really notices, the other rebels catching up on something being wrong, but never thinking too much of it, they don't know the Commander, but he has heard how her people talk about her, how even other clans talk about her. He has heard the Trikru people living at the borders speaking of their Commander and he has heard the Horse people talking about her as well. The reverence, the respect, the love in their voices always left Hatan wishing he could meet this great Commander himself.
Maybe his trust is rushed and too easily given this time, but he believes Lexa and doesn't think she will betray their deal, he surely wants peace after this war and his people need it, so he makes a decision, he chooses to show his good faith in hope that his honesty will result in trust from the Commander as well.
He walks toward her tent that night, his head high, his mind firm on its decision, certain if still a little worried. But then he stops abruptly, shreds of a hushed but heated conversation reaching his ears.
He sees a few Sky guards talking around the remnants of a fire, their voices angry and resentful. Hatan hears a boy he doesn't know the name of talking about someone called Pike and looks as Bellamy, Octavia said he's her brother, hushes him and prevents him from saying more. He listens as Bellamy agrees with the other three boys, telling them he doesn't trust the grounders either, Hatan scowls as one of the boys accuses the rebels to be actually at the service of the Queen and Bellamy nods.
Then he hears something that makes him go pale, Bellamy assures his friends that as soon as they get Clarke and go back to Arkadia, they will put up the best protections from the grounders, the Mountain still has missiles and they know how to use them. He tells them Pike already has a team learning in details how the Mountain's weapons work and how resourceful they could be, he tells them not to worry because grounders will not be a threat.
Hatan leaves with an aching mind, his trust crushed, his mood turning dark. He trusts Clarke, he knows Nyx and Wit trust her, he learnt even Malaya came to trust the girl, but can he trust her people? He can't risk them knowing that she's with the rebels and threatening his friends to get to her. So he retreats to his tent without telling anything to anyone. It is best to leave it all to Clarke, she will surely be able to deal with her people better than him.
