It was dark when Murphy woke her. "The commander sent a guard to get you."
"Ok," she answered groggily. "How long was I out?"
"Don't know. Four or five hours maybe."
"Better than nothing." Clarke stood and stretched. She ran her hands over her hair. The braids were still in place. She straightened her clothes and left the tent.
"Wanheda, Heda requests your presence."
"Lead the way."
Ontari's tent was larger than the others, but only so it could hold a table and a few chairs as well as a bed. It looked much like the tent Lexa used, and Clarke swallowed all of her feelings before entering.
"Wanheda, what is Skaikru's answer?"
"Fifty-three surrendered to Kemp. The rest will not. Some follow Pike. The rest follow Jaha, and believe the City of Light will protect them."
"Fools."
"Sha," Clarke agreed.
"We attack at dawn."
Clarke nodded.
"You have no weapons. You will stay and assist the healers."
"Sha, Heda."
"Fifty-three is not a Kru."
"I know."
"We will discuss what to do with them after the battle."
"Sha, Heda."
"They are safe, Klark."
Clarke's head jerked up. She saw Ontari's eyes waver between brown and green. Her palm itched, and she heard Lexa. Don't be afraid. "Mochof."
"I do not trust the Skaiskat with a weapon. Make him use of him with the healers. We will speak after the battle."
Clarke left before she had to see Ontari's eyes change again.
100 – 100 – 100
The fight ended early the next afternoon. Clarke was summoned from the healers' tents to Arkadia, and rode there beside a guard. Ontari paced in front of the open gate.
"Walk with me," she ordered as soon as Clarke was near. "Which one is Pike?"
"I don't see him yet."
They walked all over the enclosure. Clarke knew this would give her fresh nightmares. They entered the Ark. The main hall was full of bodies. The found Pike's at the far wall in the meeting room.
Ontari made Clarke give her a tour of the Ark. Clarke did her best to overlook the corpses, and wondered whether Lexa had received the rites due her. As if Ontari read her mind, she said, "Heda Lexa's funeral pyre will be lit tomorrow. Bring to it whoever you want."
"Thank you."
"I have many questions about your technology."
"I'll answer what I can, but I don't know much. Others know much more." Clarke thought of Raven and realized she hadn't seen her body. She saw Bellamy's body, and Monty and Jasper, but not Jaha.
They moved through the Ark, going from one area to the next, stepping over and around bodies when necessary. Ontari was, to Clarke's surprise, very interested in the Medbay, and they spent longer there while Clarke explained the equipment. "You need a fisa to take advantage of everything."
"Like you."
"Like my mother." Clarke paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to explain it. "I might be able to keep you alive until she gets to you, but she can save your life."
"How?"
"She's a surgeon. She can stop bleeding on the inside that you can't see but will kill you anyway."
"She will come to Polis," Ontari said. "We will bring this with her. She will teach the healers to do what she does."
It wasn't what Clarke had in mind when she wanted Abby in Polis, but it would suit her mother. She loved teaching as much as she thrived on doing her job. Don't be afraid. "There are others who want to come to Polis."
"They all will come to Polis until I decide what to do with them." Ontari's eyes shifted to green. "As guests." Her eyes returned to brown.
Clarke's palm itched furiously, and she made a fist to distract herself from it and Lexa's constant whispering. Protect you, Klark. May we meet again. Our people.
The other place that held Ontari's attention was Raven's workshop. Clarke had no answers for Ontari's questions. She didn't know whether anyone who surrendered knew enough to satisfy Ontari's curiosity, and wondered again where the missing Arkadians were.
"We will speak to your people. They will be truthful if you are present."
They rode to the encampment, gave their horses to guards, and walked to the rear where the Arkadians camped. Ontari was correct that Clarke's presence made them more likely to speak to Ontari without caution. After asking each a few questions, Ontari pointed at the two who appeared, from their answers, to know the most about the Ark's tech. "I will send for you later. Wanheda, with me."
"One moment, beja, Heda." Clarke got together with Roger and Fay. "Don't be afraid." Clarke frowned for a moment, but kept talking. "She wants our tech, and without Raven, you guys know the most. She's probably going to want radios, so talk with each other now about what you know and what you can reasonably do."
They nodded, but still looked worried.
"It's ok. You'll be fine."
Marcus caught her eye. "I'll be back," she told him, and joined Ontari, who waited impatiently outside the ring of guards.
They went to the healers' tents. Ontari checked on each of the warriors treated by Abby, then went to watch her work. When Abby saw Clarke, she said, "I need a hand here."
Clarke grabbed the bottle of alcohol on the table and poured some on her hands, and took hold of the piece of skin impeding Abby's removal of a bullet from the warrior's upper arm. Seconds after Clarke helped, Abby pulled the bullet out and dropped it into a wooden pail near her feet. It clinked against others when it landed. Clarke held the skin together so Abby could suture it. She put a piece of red seaweed over the stitches and wrapped a bandage around it.
The guard standing in the corner helped his compatriot from the table while Abby gave instructions. As soon as he left, another was helped in.
"Is he in danger?" Ontari asked.
Abby assessed him. "Not immediately."
"We need to talk."
"I can do both, Commander."
"Wanheda, help this gona while I speak with Fisa."
"Sha, Heda." Clarke was sick of saying those words, and closed her eyes for a second as Lexa whispered for her to be calm. While her mother left the tent with Ontari, Clarke pulled the soldier's shirt from her side. She wiped around the entry and exit wounds with alcohol and warned her, "This is gonna hurt."
The only sign that the warrior felt it was that one foot moved in circles while Clarke pulled an alcohol soaked cloth through the wound. She stitched both sides closed, put seaweed on the wounds and bandaged them. "Take it easy for a couple days. See a healer in a week or so to get the stitches out."
"Mochof, Wanheda."
"Pro."
While she left, Clarke checked supplies. They were nearly out of seaweed. She held up a piece. "Do you know where to get this?" she asked the guard.
"No."
"Murphy!" Clarke yelled.
A minute later, he entered the tent ahead of another injured fighter. "Please tell me that's not your blood."
"Not my blood." Clarke held up the seaweed. "I need you to go to the river and get some of this. It's below the waterfall, where the water is calmer. Get as much as you can, but not all of it." She stopped the guards who were helping bring the wounded in for treatment. "Find someone to go with him."
"We have no time for him."
"Heda and Haihefa say otherwise," Clarke answered, and started examining her patient.
beja = please