*Shout out to my readers from Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil and Chile! As I said I've never been across the pond, I've only gone east, but your countries look so, so beautiful and I absolutely have to visit before too long! Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to favourite/follow/review!*
Before she could think on it more, three sets of footsteps broke the silence in the room and a grounder appeared at the door, they could see two more figures in the darkness behind him. Lincoln pushed Octavia behind him in a familiar show of protection, and Bellamy moved to stand next to Clarke and Octavia, preparing to protect the two people he loved, if it came down to it.
Nyko and Indra walked in, and the first grounder stayed by the door, and the sky people stood in terse silence, in a stand-off with the grounders.
'How's Gustus?' Asked Lincoln carefully, and Nyko's eyes slid to look, first at Lincoln, and then at Octavia, peering out from behind him, angry at Lincoln's constant assumption that she need protecting, but grateful that the man she loved was there regardless.
'Gustus will live.' Nyko replied finally.
'Take her away.' Hissed Indra, irritated with the interaction.
'Wait, what are you doing?' Kane asked, frowning, and stepping in front of Raven.
'She didn't poison anyone.' Thundered Bellamy furiously, stepping towards Raven as well but Clarke's hand wrapped around his wrist, stopping him.
'Please Bellamy' she whispered, and he stilled, eyeing the grounders furiously as they stood in front of Kane and Raven, anger straining inside of him.
'I argued for all of you to die,' said Indra spitefully, her lip curling as she looked at each of them, 'but the commander is merciful, she wants only one.' Her gaze settled on Raven.
Bellamy's muscles flexed under Clarke's wrist and her heart tightened fearfully, she knew he wanted to do something, to protect Raven, but she couldn't have him getting hurt when there was no chance of being able to stop Indra as they were now.
'She's innocent.' Lincoln's voice was reasonable, but he pushed his arm back, blocking Octavia even more as Indra strode towards Raven.
'I don't care' spat the grounder, and this time it was Clarke whose body tensed. 'They move, they bleed.' She said distainfully. Bellamy strained to move again and the grounder moved from the door to step towards him menacingly. Clarke lifted her hand, palm out, and used the grip on his wrist to tug him back.
'I'm sorry,' she whispered, knowing that Bellamy would see this as cowardice, but they were outnumbered, they had no weapons, and the grounders were seeking blood.
He grunted, but stepped back with her, knowing that Clarke was just being logical.
Nyko gripped Raven by the arm and began to lead her out of the room, Octavia protested, but Lincoln stayed in front of her as she yelled, the rest of them just watched grimly, knowing that unless they could prove her innocence, Raven would die.
'The rest of you are free,' Indra smiled a cruel smile, 'when she's dead so is the alliance. You should run.'
As the footsteps of the grounders, and Raven, disappeared, a deathly silence descended on the room once more as the remaining group thought desperately of a solution. After a few minutes they followed the grounders out into the open, watching in silence as Raven was tied with arms above her head, to a thick pole in the middle of a clearing. A group of grounders, outnumbering them ten to one, surrounded Raven, thirsty for blood.
Bellamy noticed suddenly that Clarke had returned to the room and turned to go after her, but found his path blocked by a dozen grounders. Frustrated he turned back to the sight in front of him, mind racing as to why Clarke had left. He would be lying if he said the thought didn't cross his mind that she would find the death of another of their friends at the hands of the grounders too painful. But he knew that she was stronger than that. No, there must be something else. He itched to go after her, but reasoned that she was at least safe in the room, all the grounders in Tondc were gathered in the clearing.
Lexa stepped forward from the group, holding a heavy knife in her hand. 'I take no joy in this Raven,' they all wondered how true this was, 'but this time, justice will be done.'
'I didn't do it,' panted Raven, 'how is that justice?'
Lexa didn't answer, merely pressed the blade of the knife to the inside of Raven's upper arm, next to her head.
'We have to stop this,' Bellamy growled, leaping forwards, but Kane's arm came up to stop him.
'We can't.' His voice was pained.
'Lincoln talk to them.' Octavia pleaded, but in her heart she already knew that he had done all that he could.
Raven cried out as the blade cut into her skin, and from her place in the room they had meant to dine in, Clarke winced. She had returned to the room because she needed to think of a way to save her. She believed that Raven was innocent, she just had to prove it, and the girl's cries alerted her that she was almost out of time.
Indra was the next to step forward into the circle, and, taking the knife from Lexa, she slid the blade across Raven's middle, leaving a long trail of dark blood behind. Bellamy felt rage boil over inside of him as Raven screamed, and he clenched his jaw so hard that once more, he thought he'd crack a tooth. He clenched his fists together but he made no move to break through the circle. He couldn't help Raven if he was dead too. And he wouldn't do it to Clarke, he wouldn't leave her.
'Lincoln please, these are your people.' Octavia pleaded again desperately.
'Not anymore.' Lincoln's voice was hard.
Nyko approached him and pulled him into a brief hug, promising he would keep them safe as long as he could, but warning him that they needed to leave now.
'Clarke,' Abby called into the room, 'we need to move.'
'No,' thought Clarke, 'I cannot let Raven die, especially not for something she hadn't done.'
Feeling the hairs at the back of her neck prickle, she knew, without having to look, that she would see Finn behind her. Clarke turned, and it was then that she realised that she was angry. No she was furious. She couldn't save anybody, and now Finn was here to torment her.
'Say something.' She ground out, but the boy, or the ghost of the boy, just stared back at her without blinking.
They stood silently, watching each other, as the seconds passed, the time marked only by Raven's screams, before Finn's head began to move, and his eyes slid to the metal cup lying discarded on the floor.
Realisation dawned suddenly on her face. 'It wasn't in the bottle' she breathed. Running out the door she burst out into the clearing, pushing her way through the crowd of grounders not caring about their vehement protests.
'Clarke? Stop! What are you doing?' Clarke barely even registered Bellamy's shouts. 'You'll get yourself killed.' He followed her through the circle, barely containing his fear and frustration. His emotions were fraught as it was and the determination in Clarke's eyes worried him.
'I need that bottle, now.' She ordered, continuing to march towards the centre of the circle, Bellamy and Abby flanking her wordlessly, a thousand questions racing through their minds. Nyko ducked into a nearby tent to fetch the bottle.
'Stop.' She cried as she caught sight of Raven, her voice echoed through the circle and the grounder in front of her, a man with greying hair, lowered the knife.
'Let her pass.' Said Lexa emotionlessly, managing to sound almost bored, and the two grounders who had moved to block their path stepped away.
Clarke was confident as she approached the commander. 'One of your people tried to kill you Lexa, not one of mine.' Her words silenced the circle, and all eyes fell on her.
Lexa's eyes narrowed and Indra stepped forward, reaching for her sword. 'You should have run.' She said menacingly.
'I can prove it.' Clarke said, head raised high, gaze unwavering. She knew she was right, and she was determined to prove it to Lexa, to prove that she should have trusted Clarke.
Nyko had returned from the tent, and, reaching Clarke's side he offered the glass bottle of moonshine to her.
Bellamy's heart stopped. She couldn't be serious. Before he could stop her, before he could even reach for her, Clarke had un-stoppered the bottle and was drinking from it.
Bellamy felt a cold sweat prickle at his back as he watched Clarke for any signs that the bottle contained poison. The circle watched, all eyes on Clarke as she…did nothing.
Moments passed, and Clarke showed no signs of being poisoned. Bellamy felt the blood begin to pump through his body once more, and he had to fight the urge to sigh in relief. But they weren't safe yet.
'Explain.' Demanded Lexa icily.
'The poison wasn't in the bottle,' her voice was clear, without a hint of doubt in it. Bellamy's eyes dropped to the bottle Clarke still held and he knew that Clarke was right, 'it was in the cup.'
As he watched, Gustus leant forward and murmured something to Lexa in Trigedasleng, before stepping back and Bellamy realised that the grounder looked at Lexa in very much the same way Bellamy knew he looked at Clarke. A mixture of love, and an innate need to protect her. Frowning at the ground Bellamy mind raced, tying the pieces together, before they slid back to Gustus, who was once again murmuring in Lexa's ear, no doubt telling her that they were lying to save one of their own. And he knew.
'It was you.' He said, his voice quiet, but steady, and he was relieved when the flash of panic in Gustus' eyes told him that he was right.
Clarke turned to him but Bellamy was still looking at Gustus, with the same expression of calculating watchfulness as he did when he was assessing a situation, coming up with an idea, a strategy. His eyes held the same unwavering confidence that he had when whatever it was that he was so focused on had revealed everything to him, and Clarke knew she trusted that he was right.
'He tested the cup, he searched Raven.' Bellamy had been right to trust his instinct on the grounder, he just didn't realise that the reason he mistrusted him was because he could identify with him so much.
'Gustus would never harm me.' Lexa snarled, glaring at the defiant man in front of her, but Bellamy didn't look away, he didn't even flinch.
'You weren't the target,' he said resolutely, 'the alliance was.'
'We didn't do this, and you know.' Bellamy was relieved by Clarke's support, she believed him.
Lexa's eyes narrowed almost unnoticeably, and she rounded on Gustus, asking him something in Trigedasleng, he watched her as she spoke, his expression was closed, but he had an air of defeat.
Staring back ahead, the huge grounder spoke, surprisingly not in his native language. 'This alliance would cost you your life heda. I could not let that happen.'
Surprise rippled through the grounders at the confession, and Lexa's shoulders dropped, her mask slipping, revealing disbelief written across her face.
'This treachery will cost you yours.' She said firmly, bringing her emotions back under control, before barking an order to the grounders.
Raven was cut down from the tree and Kane and Abby ran to catch her as Gustus was restrained. Within minutes, their positions had been reversed, and now it was Gustus tied to the thick pole, enduring a cut from each grounder present. Clarke could hardly stomach watching, knowing that she was partly responsible for this torture.
Bellamy, sensing her thoughts, murmured quietly in her ear, 'you didn't do this Clarke, he did. They were going to kill Raven, you saved her.'
She took a deep breath, turning to face him, showing him the vulnerability in her eyes. 'Why is it that in order to save someone I care about, someone else always has to die?'
He didn't have an answer, so instead, Bellamy did the only thing he could do; he pulled Clarke against him, hiding her face against his chest, shielding her from some of the horror for as long as he could. And as he caught Raven's eye, he knew that she had forgiven Clarke. Experiencing what she had, seeing how Gustus would die, and knowing how much worse it would have been for Finn, when she turned to look at Clarke, it was with pity and guilt, with no more of the rage that had previously burned in her eyes.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Clarke felt Bellamy's shoulders stiffen, and she turned, leaning her back against his chest, to see Lexa unsheathing her sword.
'Be strong.' Gustus struggled to get the words out, but somehow, even with his dying breath, he managed, only wanted to help her do the task they both know she had to.
Steeling herself, Lexa spoke clearly, 'yu gonplei ste oden' before sinking her sword into Gustus' chest. Summoning the last of his strength, he held his head, allowing the last thing he saw before darkness clouded his vision to be the woman he had served, the woman he had dedicated the best part of his life to.