Octavia is shooed down to the river to bathe by her mother. The cool water flows against her skin and for the first time after remembering her upcoming marriage, Octavia is at peace, at least until the women of the village come. For such an important marriage, Octavia is afforded the luxury of soap. A precious commodity, only a lucky few have the privilege of using soap at least once in their life. And while Octavia marveled at the feel of soap in her hair the ladies of the village scrubbed her body until it was red and raw. The air on her wet skin quickly chilled Octavia as the ladies wrapped her up in undergarments. Brought back to her hut, the women laid out knee-length deerskin skirts, a bandeau, and fine shelled and beaded necklaces. Dressed in her proper attire they sat her down to do her face. Painted with clay and beads around her forehead, they were finally done. Upon exiting the hut, the whole village turned to stare at her. Her mother exited from the group of women who had gotten her ready and held her at arms-length, looking at her in full.

"My beautiful daughter, you look stunning."

The other women all joined in in voicing their compliments.

Octavia simply smiled a sad smile. This was all that she had imagined her wedding to be, except for one thing, she wasn't marrying someone she loved. She was marrying someone she hardly knew at all.

The ceremony takes place in a small clearing on the outskirts of the village. The clearing was lit with torches and flower petals were strewn across the ground. As the village and a few delegates from the Boat People choose their seats, Octavia stood by the tree line waiting for her signal to enter. She peered from around the tree she was waiting behind and gasped. He was standing at the front of the clearing talking to his mother and Indra. His face painted in black stripes in the typical warrior fashion, his chest was bare and a tattoo ran up the side of his body to his neck. His muscles rippled with a savage power. He was stunning. As the music started up with the beating of drums the two women quickly sat down and Lincoln faced towards her catching her eye as she quickly retreated behind the tree again. The vocalists start up their song, cueing Octavia to enter. She breathes in deeply, taking in as much air as she can, exhales, and enters. She keeps her eyes forward, never glancing around, and walks with dignity and poise. She reaches the front and turns to face Lincoln. Anya, the commander of the entirety of the woods, stands before them. She talks to them, tells them about the sacredness of marriage, the bond it creates between two souls. She tells the story of the Reapers, once married only to be separated from their love, the resulting madness drives them to cannibalism. She tells of the importance of unity of the couple. That should their souls ever part they should fear becoming a Reaper. Ending her story she moves on to the sacred rituals. Lincoln and Octavia clasp hands and Anya pours the water over them erasing memories of past loves and evils. After drying their hands, Lincoln gives to Octavia a necklace made of precious stones meant to symbolize prosperity and wealth of the couple. She turns, and parts her hair to the side so he can clasp the necklace around her slender neck. He takes her hand and leads her from the clearing to the tables set up for the feast. They sit at the head of the main table, her brother and mother sit to her right and Lincoln to her left. To his left sits Luna. At the table too sits Anya, Indra, Lexa, and the rest of the delegates from the Boat People. Music plays as the food is served. Rich venison, sweet fruits and berries, corn, beans, and squash come round to the table and they all dig into their meals. Octavia finds that while she is starving she just does not have the stomach to eat. She is married now. Married. Her. As the feast ends the music starts up again and many leap up to dance around the fire. Lincoln pushes back his chair and extends his hand towards her.

"Care to dance?"

Octavia takes his hand and they walk together toward the fire. His hand around her waist, they sway to the music. He leans in close and whispers to her.

"You do not seem very happy wife."

Octavia startles and shakes her head.

"Of course I'm happy. Why wouldn't I be?"

Lincoln smirks and talks to her nonchalantly.

"Well now I don't know maybe it has to do with the fact that you're marrying someone you just met."

She smiles wryly and flicks her hair out of her face.

"How perceptive of you, my dear."

Lincoln smirks again.

"You see this—this is why I chose you. You have this fire in you. Something that we all have of course but, but something about yours is different. Something about you is different. I don't know what it is, yet. But I'll find out. I'll find out what it is about you that is truly magnificent."

The music is slowing and many are heading back to their huts. Your mother and brother approach Octavia and she quickly lets go of Lincoln. She flings herself into their arms and tries her hardest not to cry—she will not cry. Lincoln stands by waiting patiently as she and her family say their goodbyes. Bellamy clutches her to his chest tightly. He lifts her head to fiercely look into her eyes.

"He does anything—anything to hurt you and you run. You understand me. You run and you don't look back. Keep yourself safe O. I believe in you."

Luna approaches and says something to Lincoln. He turns to Octavia.

"It's time for us to leave now."

Her mother weeps desperately as she leaves and as they walk to the horses, she turns and looks back at the family she is leaving behind one last time and Bellamy nods at her, telling her to have a good rest of her life and a tear silently slips down her cheek.