Clarke didn't even think about hiding if someone were to open the door of the room she was placed in. She was too excited by the thought that for the first time in her life, she enjoyed the concept of being selfish. The door carefully opened, as Lexa peered inside to make sure Clarke was still there. At the first moment of eye contact, Lexa smiled and slipped inside the room without opening the door too wide, with Titus following behind. Clarke met Lexa halfway, and wasted no time in wrapping her arms around her lover's waist. Lexa's smile was still present, perhaps beaming for the first time in years. Titus exhaled deeply to subtly regain their attention.
"I know you two must be happy to have each other, but we must discuss Wanheda's safety immediately. If you wish her to stay, this must be our first priority," he said, unwavering in his opinion. Lexa nodded and parted herself from Clarke as gently as she could.
"He is right, Clarke," Lexa said, "If my kill order is to be taken seriously, we must find a legal and socially acceptable loophole into allowing you to stay."
"Why can't I just disguise myself again?" Clarke asked with a shrug.
"Too many people recognize your features, Clarke. Plenty attended the Summit initiating Skaikru, too many influential figures know who you are." Titus shook his head as he said replied.
"What about some kind of… ward concept?" Clarke offered.
"Wards are used after a conflict is resolved, taking you as any kind of prisoner of war will only give more cause for Skaikru to instigate violence. They justify an attack on us by using you as an excuse," Titus declined again.
"What do you suggest, Titus?" Lexa asked, folding her arms in frustration. "Because it seems that every suggestion Clarke has is going to be met with your disapproval."
"There is one way," Titus began, his eyes dropping to the ground as he offered his idea, "that will allow Clarke to stay legally within our side of the blockade without directly injuring your authority."
"Directly?" Lexa inquired.
"If Clarke is to stay here without her stay being seen as weak favoritism among some of the public, Clarke must be one of us. Your initial order was for Clarke and Octavia, and any other Skaikru member for that matter, to be on the appropriate side of the blockade by dawn. It is still dusk. If Clarke renounces her allegiance to Skaikru and becomes a citizen of Trigeda before dawn, she will be allowed to stay. It will make her a legal member of the clans, voiding out her status as Skaikru. Some people may not like it when they find out, but the disapproval will not be as impactful on your reign as if you had simply allowed Clarke to stay without Wanheda respecting the law."
"You want me to turn my back on my people?" Clarke asked.
Titus flexed his jaw slightly. "I want you to respect Heda," was all he said in return.
"Why can Clarke not seek asylum instead?" Lexa proposed, seeing the troubled thoughts behind Clarke's gaze. "Asylum provides protection for people of a certain group who feel they are going to be persecuted by their group's leadership."
"Clarke is under not persecuted threat. She will face no prejudice among her people," Titus answered, followed by Clarke scoffing.
"You really think that if I were to go back to Arkadia that they would welcome me back in with open arms? I will face prejudice from Pike and his little regime. They will most likely imprison me when I first set foot back at the camp, just like they did when I tried to talk to Bellamy a while ago."
"You are under no prejudiced threat. Asylum focuses on racial, religious, or any social category facing persecution. Simply being on the opposing side of a leader does not qualify you for asylum, and a blockade removes the opportunity for our community to take in refugees."
"So you are saying that her only choice is to leave her home… permanently?" Lexa asked, "You are saying that Clarke must forsake an enormous part of her identity in order to stay on this side?"
"It is the only way for this to be done to keep the people happy, Heda," Titus replied, practically pleaded. "I know you believe that I am out to separate you two, but now I see that this cannot be done. The best thing I can do now is make sure that if you two are going to stay together that it must be done the right way. I have sworn to protect and uphold you, Heda. Trust me when I say that this is the best option to do so."
Lexa frowned and turned to Clarke. "It is your call, Clarke. I will not force you to stay with me. If you wish to go back and join Octavia on the road, I will not stop or judge you."
Clarke's mind was processing the information at lightning speed, and it didn't take much for her to blurt out "No, I'm staying with you."
Lexa and Titus were silent to Clarke's words, just staring at the young Wanheda.
"Do you know what you are sacrificing?" Lexa asked cautiously, as if Clarke was some kind of sleeping beast she did not wish to anger.
"… yes."
Octavia had charged down the dirt paths as hard as her horse would allow, feeling her stomach twist, turn, and knot. She did not know how she would explain Clarke's absence to her friend's benefit. They would see this as betrayal for sure. If this coup did not succeed, there would be no hope of Clarke coming back home. She would be an enemy to the Arkadian society. A deserter. If caught, Clarke would most likely be put to death.
Arkadia was not far off, and the pitch black sky she navigated with for hours on end signaled that it had to have been at least one in the morning. She felt sorry for the beast underneath her for having to gallop so ferociously without much rest and water, but knew that her life, and the lives of those she cared about in Arkadia, deepened on her making it home in time.
It felt bizarre to call Arkadia that. For her whole life, Octavia had felt like the Ark was never her home. She understood why her family kept her hidden for the majority of her life, but her imprisonment only caused a festering of contempt for her society. Now that those same individuals were partially in power again, Octavia felt the familiar hatred awaken, her heart feeling like a volcano shifting out of dormancy. She didn't know if she had the capability to keep herself in control, and keep the hate from spewing from her body like deadly magma.
The powered field lights of the settlement came into view past the tree line, and Octavia pressed her heels into her horse to press the beast on to gallop faster. She did not want to enter the camp any faster. She knew she had to, but her heart wished she'd stall out the journey, just to have a few more moments before entering the wrong side of war.
Her hatred and their hatred should not mix. Not like water and oil, but like water and electricity. This situation would result in more lethality than just Pike's demise.
As she got closer her heart felt as if it had just been violently squeezed as she heard a loud crack reverberate across the night sky and the sound of something whizzing by her ear in a split second. She let herself exhale shakily, realizing that she had been fired upon. The guard must be assuming that she's a Grounder, and that reflected how they felt about the blockade. Of course Skaikru would starting killing people on the wrong side of the blockade before dawn actually hit. She gripped her reigns tighter, in hopes of grounding her mind and stilling her fear.
Another crack among the sky, and another missed bullet. If this is how the Arkadia militia's aim was, the Grounders might actually stand a chance.
"Stop!" she heard a voice shout from the camp. "Stop! Don't fire!"
As her horse galloped closer, she developed a better view of the Arkadian settlement, and there by the main gate was none other than her brother Bellamy Blake. She could distinguish Pike not too far off behind him. She steadied her stallion to a trot as the large fence of a gate began to pull open slowly, allowing her to trek inside the compound.
"Octavia, you're back," Bellamy said, sounding truly relieved, watching his sister dismount.
"You're back on the right side, Octavia," said Pike, walking towards them and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Smart choice. The people will be happy to see that you, the one who assimilated the most to Grounder culture, chose her home people in the end." He smiled reoutinely, no doubt saying these words for more political influence as all the gate patrol guards, and nosy onlookers, watched. "But where is Clarke?"
As he asked this question, Octavia heard her friend's name being shouted desperately in the growing crowd, and soon Abby Griffin made her way to Pike's side.
"Clarke?" she asked, a glint of hopefulness shining in the doctor's eyes.
"She's on the other side," was all Octavia had the strength to mutter. She took Helios's reigns in her hands and began to walk beside the beast, intending on leading him to one of the few stables in the camp.
"What do you mean?" Abby asked, fully understanding, but not wanting to accept the reality.
"She chose to stay in Polis. She does not support Pike's hysteria." Octavia knew that Clarke had asked her to say these words, in hope of instilling new feelings in Pike's radicals, but when the words left her mouth, she felt like she had signed Clarke's death certificate.
Abby's jaw dropped, searching Octavia's face. The young warrior knew that Abby did not support Pike either, and that the doctor was probably thinking about how Clarke should have arrived anyway.
Pike roughly cleared his throat as he processed her words, his eyes shifting every second or so to the crowd watching his every move.
"Hysteria?" he asked, mustering faux laughter. "Clarke Griffin calls our crusade for safety and justice hysteria?"
"Traitor!" Octavia heard someone shout in the crowd, and watched Abby's troubled face grow more and more with worry.
"Now, now," Pike said, raising his arm to quell the energetic crowd. "Clarke Griffin is still one of us. We will get her back, where she will meet justice in a trial. We are fair people, who govern our land and society with civilized rules. Clarke will come back when she realizes that the Grounder community doesn't want her. She has betrayed her people for those who won't take her in. If she crosses our lines again, we will make an example out of her." The crowd mumbled in agreement. "For now, we must prepare for any attacks we may face in the wake of this kill order set by the Grounder Commander."
He left the crowd and it dispersed with him, leaving Octavia standing in the front of the settlement with just Abby and Bellamy.
"O, I'm so happy you came back, I was worried you were going to stay over there," Bellamy said, reaching over to hug his sister, who simply reciprocated weakly.
"I need some time alone, Bellamy, you can talk to me later," Octavia said, quickly leaving the hug. She saw her brother's Adams apple shift as he swallowed her rejection and nodded as he turned away. Before Bellamy was completely out of sight, Octavia sent a look towards the frozen Abby and mouthed the words "follow me"…