Chapter 23

TW: Non-con scene, nothing too graphic, but still might trigger. Skip from ##### to ##### if this will bother you.

Clarke was in Echo's room. The sun had risen, but they hadn't gone to training like normal. Echo left to go check in with some of the Royal Guards and to make sure that all the plans were in place for their departure. It looked like business as normal. They knew it was only until that night. They were making their break in the night. They still knew that they had a day more before Ledo planned to leave.

Echo had paved the way for them to leave. Clarke wasn't sure how, but she trusted the spy to get them out of Troi in one piece. She also knew that there were more believers in Wanheda that would support this move. They knew that if Wanheda needed to leave, it was because she needed to run. She was the Commander of Death. Lexa was already dead, and Clarke was calling for the death of Nia and some of the other leaders in Polis. She needed to get there on her own as Wanheda and supported by not only Skaikru but also Heda Ontari.

It was hard for Clarke to think about the fact that Ontari had actually slain Lexa. No matter how angry she was, Clarke still loved Lexa. She'd come back to life several times in order to try and save her. And, now, she'd delivered a new killer to Lexa's doorstep with a sword that she'd designed. It hurt. It smarted. And, it made Clarke depressed. Coupled with being called to come to Polis now and share in Ontari's glory, Clarke felt more than just a small sense of dread. She was scared. They had no idea what they were going to be walking into. This had never happened in any of her lives before.

She sighed. She couldn't help it. She had to move on see what else she might be able to change. She knew that it wouldn't be much. She was only going to have Echo with her, but the spy had made her promise to live. She couldn't disappoint her now. So, Clarke was busy thinking about what she could do for Echo once they made it to Becca's.

She knew that it might bother Echo, but she knew that she give her a treatment. They had time, not a lot, but they still had time before Praimfaya swept the globe. The only thing was that she was going to have to make Echo drill into her to the get the marrow. She was going to have to make sure that she spy did it while she was practically awake but under local anesthesia. It wasn't going to be pleasant for either of them, but she was living proof that it worked.

She was sitting on Echo's bed reading over the letters. She knew that things were bad in Polis, but Ontari and Raven seemed to making headway into an alliance. Nia wasn't exactly happy with it, but she figured Skaikru controlled the Mountain and had guns. Nia was rightly afraid of the missiles and Raven might have lied about the number that they had, but she'd still threatened to use them if Nia didn't back down. Ontari did it for her. Roan just sat back and smiled at the predicament that Nia found herself in. From Octavia's telling, it seemed that the troops that had come with Nia were split. Half were following Ontari blindly and the others were still only loyal to Nia. Even the Royal Guard seemed split. Ontari was doing what she could to undermine Nia now that she was Heda and even Roan was speaking up, since Ontari had pardoned him. Nia was having a time trying to control her creation, and Ontari was now playing by her own rules. Nia had already attempted, even though no one could prove it, to poison the new Heda. Abby had saved her and was named Fisaheda kom Kongeda. Abby offered to open a hospital and teach some Skaikru medicine to whomever wished to learn it, as well as hoping that Grounder fisa would come to her and teach her there ways. Nia's coup had only partially worked, and Clarke knew that she was hoping on Clarke's "loyalty" to sway Ontari.

Clarke shook her head. Nia really had no idea that Ontari and Clarke had bonded. They might not be lovers, but they were now loyal to each other. Clarke had opened Ontari's eyes to Nia's treachory. She knew it was only a matter of time before Ontari had Nia executed and named Roan as the heir to the throne of Azgeda. Ontari might not know about Praimfaya, but she knew enough from Clarke's ramblings and their discussions that she wasn't going to sit on the Throne of Heda long. But, she was going to do what she could to make everyone's lives a little better. She felt she owed it to the people after what she had done in Nia's name. It was her turn at redemption and atonement. Clarke was proud of her, even if she knew it would never happen again. Ontari was always volatile and reckless. And, honestly, Clarke wasn't willing to go through torture with her every life to make her see the "light."

Clarke didn't hear him sneak into Echo's room. She was sitting on the bed, smiling at the letters. She knew that no one would understand the strange code that Raven and Octavia were using. And, she knew that most of the notes from them were also updates from Ontari. She was so engrossed in catching up with the latest news that she didn't notice him until it was too late.

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Ledo was on top of her quickly. He pushed her down on the bed and used his weight to hold her down. She could tell that the man was angry. She also knew that he had to have biding his time in order to make this move. Echo was still in the meetings with the Royal Guards. He must have had someone on the Guards to make sure to keep Echo busy.

As he pushed down on her, she wanted to retch. Not from his weight, but from his smell. He still hadn't bathed or cleaned himself. It was nauseating.

"You think that you are so mighty, don't you, gada?" he spat at her.

She tried to roll out from under him, but he just weighed too much. She looked up into his wild eyes. She felt his member against her torso, and then it finally hit her. He didn't want her head. He wanted her. He'd been fixated on her since he saw her fighting in the Pits. She could remember seeing him at every fight, strange smile on his face, but nevertheless supporting her against her foes.

"You think that you are better than all of us," he hissed.

He grabbed her and flipped her over on the bed. Holding her down, he decided that it was time for his fun. He reached down to undo his pants. He was going to take her. She was still fighting. Clarke was not going to let him do this to her. He made the mistake of letting go of her hands just enough to pull down her pants. His hands were massive and eclipsed both of hers in one, but with his focus on her clothing, she managed to get a finger or two under her vambrace to release the hidden, thin blade there. She closed her left hand around the sliver of metal and made herself calm.

She was anything but. She was pissed. She was upset. She was scared. She was a multitude of things. And, thankfully her flight or fight response was completely kicked in. She knew that her body was dumping adrenaline like it was necessary for her to breathe. She kept thrashing and fighting. She snarled and gnashed her teeth. She was trying to bite at his hand. She wanted to hurt him.

"Just lay still and take it. You are nothing but an untested whore for Nia. She'll give you to me soon enough. And, if she won't, I'll convince Ontari to."

Clarke turned her face just enough to spit. She landed a nice loogie on his cheek. He reared back and backhanded her across the face. But, it turned out to be his fatal mistake. Sliver of blade in hand, she spun on the bed, pants around her ankles, and drove the blade into his ear. She watched as he crumpled on the ground instantly dead. She felt no amount of remorse for his death.

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She was just getting up from her compromised position on the bed when Echo came in. Their eyes met and held. Echo said nothing. She didn't have to. She was across the room in seconds. She pulled the dead body away from the bed. She looked Clarke over and then saw the split on her nose and the blood from her lips. She'd fought back and hard. Echo curled her lips up in a quiet smile and then turned to look at Ledo, dead on the floor.

She moved to his side. She saw the sliver of a blade that Erie had made for her. It was the hidden blade that Clarke kept in the special little hole of her vambrace. It had finally been needed, and it was used well.

"He...he tried to..."

"Hush," Echo told her quietly.

It wasn't that she didn't want Clarke to talk about it. It was that they didn't have time to talk about it at the moment. With these new turn of events, they had to leave and they had to leave now.

"Get your bag. We're leaving now. We need to go before the watch is set. Aneenia in the kitchens is already preparing me some food to travel. We'll stop by there on the way and be gone before anyone can come looking for Ledo."

"What are we going to do with him?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?!" Clarke almost shouted.

"What he tried is still a crime even here in Azgeda, Clarke. We'll leave him here with his pants down. It is obvious what he was trying to do. Enough of the guard will know that he tried to get to you," Echo told her. "I raised enough concern with those that were loyal enough to our cause to plant the seed. Our get away won't be clean, but they'll give us as much time as they can before they raise the alarm."

"Meaning?"

"We honestly need to be away from Troi as far as possible before Ledo would have wanted to leave."

"They will know that one of us killed him."

"And, it won't matter. The man is dead. You are Wanheda. They will deem it justice called down by you. No one will question it. You accepted and acknowledged your titles in front of the Azgeda court yesterday. For all intents and purposes, you outrank Ledo, but the gona will only follow him until Nia says otherwise," Echo explained.

"They will still chase us?"

"Sha, because we aren't going to Polis as agreed. Or, are we? I will have a guard I trust make a trail on the path to Polis. It will give us some more time to run. They won't be looking North for us in the Ice Fields, Clarke. They will be looking south and east towards Polis. By the time that Nia, realizes we didn't go that way, hopefully we'll be in the Dead Zone."

"You make sound easy," Clarke quipped.

"It will be anything but," Echo replied.

"Oh, I know that. Trust me, do I know that. Earth has tried to kill me way too many times for me to believe that this is going to be some simple stroll in the woods. I might actually die en route, but that would suck."

"Grab your bag. We need to go now," Echo encouraged her. "I'll clean you up when we get to the cave."

Clarke just nodded. She grabbed her bag and closed it. Her sword was strapped to the right side of the pack for an easier draw with her left hand. She fixed her clothing, when all she wanted to do was shower, bathe, swim in the frigid cold waters of Lake Hu to wash him off of her. Echo must have known what was going through her head. She crossed the room and gathered her in a hug.

"You've got one minute to completely break down and then I need Wanheda from the Pits."

Clarke just nodded against her chest. She wasn't crying, amazingly. She was trying to figure out what to be the most upset about and her mind wouldn't settle. She knew that sleep was out of the question that night. She would only see him, feel him...she shivered.

"Alright, time's up. I'm sorry. Clarke, we got to go."

"I know."

"Where are your letters?"

"There," Clarke answered pointing to them on the floor, scattered from her scuffle with Ledo.

"I'm going to burn them. Is there anything in them that you wanted to keep? Do you need to send word to anyone?"

"I already did through your contacts. I let Octavia and Raven know that we were fleeing in hopes of finding a peaceful way back to Arkadia. And, I might have mentioned that we would be stopping and staying at Becca's mansion. Raven will be able to find it, if she hasn't already," Clarke answered.

"Good," Echo replied as she crossed the room and tossed all the letters and scrolls, read and unread, into the flames.

Clarke settled the pack on her back and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Echo called out to her and Clarke stopped right where she was.

Echo grabbed her pack and her bow. She had a quiver attached at her hip. It wasn't full, but there were enough to do damage. Another quiver was attached to her pack, centered, while her sword was on the left. Clarke wasn't going to get a quiver until they got to the cave.

Echo opened the door, herself, slightly and checked the hall. They had to make sure that they weren't seen. And, they had to leave quickly. Thankfully Echo knew the palace better than anyone, save a few servants, and that was only because she was Nia's number one spy. She had to know it.

An hour went by and they'd finally made it out of the palace and towards the edge of town. With furs draped over them, they managed to blend in with some farmers heading back to their fields and farms. This would make it harder for them to be tracked, too. Thankfully, the farmers didn't question who they were and when the time was right, they fell back to the back of the daily caravan, not missed, and took their trail to the cave.

It was another hour before Echo had Clarke in the cave. She didn't bother with a fire. Instead, she went to her stores of water. She wet a piece of cloth and began to treat Clarke's face. She knew that the cuts were bad, but she hadn't really looked at Clarke's face.

Ledo had done a number on it. Or, maybe he hadn't. She still wasn't sure. All she knew was that they had to clean Clarke up and get moving. They could wait the day and no more at the cave. She hoped that it would be enough time for Clarke to process what she'd gone through, but she doubted that it would be. She would have to alter their trails to find places to hide so Clarke could cry out into the night with her nightmares. Tonight, they would be okay in the cave, but once they hit the Ice Fields, there wouldn't be that much shelter to hide them, from anything.

"Don't look at me like that," Clarke commanded as Echo gently touched her face.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm broken."

"You aren't broken. I know you aren't, Clarke. I could tell that you fought back. You defeated him. You won, he didn't."

"And, yet his blood is my hands. Another name and face to haunt my dreams because I am the one that killed him," Clarke stated. "His death was my fault."

"No, it was his fault. He shouldn't have attacked you. You defended yourself and you had every right to do so. He paid for his stupidity with his life. But, it isn't your fault. There is no blame in what you did, Clarke, and there will never be. He deserved what he got. And, if had been able to do so before tonight, I would have done it myself. Unfortunately rumors and speculation only go so far with Nia."

"She won't just think that you killed him?"

"No, she won't."

"Why not?"

"Because I might have left a little clue for the Royal Guard to deliver to Nia and Ontari," Echo told her.

"We're gonna make it, right?"

"We are, Clarke. We just need to get to Lake Hu after tomorrow. Once we are the water, we should be fine. We just have to get to the water and follow it into the Ice Fields. From there, it will be harder, but I have no doubt that you'll make sure we make it," Echo told her.

"From your lips to Keyron's ears," Clarke mumbled.

Echo helped her clean and then made her pallet to sleep on. Within minutes, the "battle lust" faded from Clarke's body completely and her mind took over. Echo knew the moment that it was going to a restless night, just like those on the way into Azgeda with the broken girl. Forgoing watch, Echo climbed into the furs with her and held her close. She hoped that her presence would give Clarke enough comfort to sleep. She was going to need it in the coming days. They were going to move hard and fast with little time for breaks. They didn't have the luxury. They needed to be as deep into the Ice Fields as they could before anyone realized where they were. Echo just hoped that time was actually on their side.

*Spoiler Alert: It wasn't.