Octavia

"You've learned a lot about patience," Lincoln said fondly as he handed her a bowl of stew, sitting down beside her. "The old you would have been pacing back and forth, knowing your brother was meeting with Lexa right now."

"That wouldn't change anything," she said, shrugging a little. Internally she was tumultuous, but outwardly she appeared calm. She didn't touch her stew. "Why did she come here, Lincoln?"

"I don't know," he said, digging into his own food. "I'm sure Bellamy will be back soon, and then he'll tell us."

Octavia let out a frustrated breath, losing a grip on her resolve. "He shouldn't even be talking to her after what she did."

Lincoln reached out and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and giving it a squeeze. This was an old fight, and although they both agreed that what Lexa had done had been wrong, Lincoln was more conflicted. After all, she was technically still his Commander, and he had loyalty to her position that had been ingrained in him since birth, whereas Octavia had not grown up Trikru. They had long since reached a mutual and unspoken agreement that the subject of Lexa was a sore one, and that it was better not to discuss it at all.

She heard that Bellamy was on his way back long before he reached the gates, and she left Lincoln to go and meet her brother there. He smiled at her but immediately she knew he was stressed, that something had happened.

Kane and Abby had come to meet him too. "Well?" Kane demanded as the gates shut behind him.

Bellamy's eyes flickered from Octavia to Abby, and she saw that her brother was troubled, hated to see him squirm under Kane's gaze, though she knew that to anyone else he appeared nothing but calm.

"Why don't we speak somewhere private?" Abby suggested.

There hadn't been many injuries in camp lately, so the medical bay was quiet and empty. Abby dismissed the few staff members who were still hanging around, and then they were alone.

"What did she say?" Kane asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he narrowed his eyes at Bellamy. Octavia saw her brother's gaze flicker, again, towards Abby.

"It's Clarke, isn't it?" Octavia asked simply. The two adults' eyes landed on her as though they'd forgotten she was there. Abby swallowed, looked to Bellamy for an explanation.

"Yeah," he said heavily. Octavia knew he would find it easier to talk to her than the other two. There wasn't exactly any love lost between Bellamy and Abby, especially, as Abby harboured resentment that her daughter had taken the time to say goodbye to Bellamy but mentioned nothing of her plans to her mother.

"What happened?" Octavia asked her brother, gently.

"The Ice Nation took her."

"Who?" Abby demanded, her voice high with worry.

"Why would the queen do that?" Octavia asked, frowning.

"I don't know," he answered. "Apparently it isn't the first time she's taken someone as a way to get at Lexa."

"Get at Lexa? How does taking my daughter get at Lexa?" Abby asked.

"So she wants to pull out of the alliance?" Octavia continued their conversation as if no one else was there.

"I think she already has," Bellamy said, gritting his teeth a little. "Lexa seemed pretty angry about the whole thing."

"Dammit," Octavia said, shaking her head. "It was hard enough for her to united the twelve clans in the first place. The alliance has always been delicate… if the Ice Nation pulls out, there might be other weak points now, too. Some of the other clans might throw their lots in with the queen and move against Trigeda."

"She said she won't help us get Clarke back," Bellamy said, clearly angry about it.

"Don't worry," Octavia said, touching his arm gently. "We'll do it without her."

"Excuse me!" Abby interrupted suddenly, her voice sharp. The Blakes both turned their heads to look at her as she pressed her lips together. "You won't be doing anything. We will organise a team to bring Clarke back. Just… tell me who these people are that you're talking about. Tell me where my daughter is."

Bellamy let out a frustrated breath. "You don't know anything," he snapped. "You don't know anything at all about this place."

"You're right," Kane spoke up, clearly trying to diffuse the situation, putting a hand gently on Abby's shoulder. He looked to Bellamy. "So fill us in."

Octavia spoke instead. "After the conclave, when Lexa's keryon was chosen as Heda, she had to win mani gonplei to gain the badannes of the other krus. It took two years before the kongeda was complete, and she united the tua krus to make them teina kru. That means Lexa isn't just Heda to Trigeda, she's Heda to hogeda too. But if the Azgeda is baga now, that changes everything."

Bellamy couldn't help but smile a little at the floor, and when she saw that, Octavia had to hide a smile of her own to keep from laughing. She was alternating between English and Trigedasleng to be purposely unintelligible, and her brother knew it. The two of them had discussed it on more than one occasion- that the adults should leave the real problems to the people who had been here longest, knew the land and its people… in short, to them. Her decision to explain things the way she just had was to make that point.

"Now you listen, young lady-" Kane started, pointing a finger at her.

"No," Bellamy snapped, cutting him off. "What are you going to do, go to the Ice Nation and demand to talk to their queen? They'll laugh you right off their land."

"And that's if they don't kill you first," Octavia agreed, glaring at Kane.

"Then we'll bring you," Abby said to her. "You and your boyfriend. You can go with the team, be their guides."

"We won't follow you," Octavia said, shaking her head. "No offense, but you have no authority over us."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong," Kane said. "You either go along with us or we'll lock you up for insubordination." He started to advance on Octavia, but Bellamy's hand shot up, planting itself firmly on Kane's chest, stopping him in his tracks.

Kane and Bellamy glared at each other for a long moment before Bellamy said, soft but angry, "That's not happening. Don't threaten my sister again."

Octavia could plainly see the moment where Kane realised the hole he'd just dug for himself. Suggesting he might lock her up was the absolute worst thing he could have said in front of her brother. Kane shrugged off Bellamy's hand and looked to Octavia, but before he could open his mouth again, Bellamy said to Abby, "You know we're right. We have the best chance of getting Clarke back… I've already found someone willing to be our guide, but we need to leave- now."

"And you're not invited," Octavia added quietly. "We'll bring her back, but you can't come with us. You'll just slow us down or get us killed." Bellamy crossed his arms over his chest and nodded his agreement.

Finally, grudgingly, Kane relented. It looked like Abby wanted to argue some more, but before she could he said, his voice gentle but urgent, "It's like before, when you helped them. You were right to do that… they know this place, its customs. They have the best chance of success. It makes sense, Abby."

Clarke's mother let out her breath, closing her eyes briefly. "Fine," she said quietly, looking hard at both Octavia and Bellamy. "Just… go get my daughter."

Octavia turned on her heel and she heard her brother's footsteps follow a moment later. They would bring Clarke home, but it would be on their terms.