Clarke sent another message to Roan, making certain to include the exact words Titus said to them both. She also gave him her impression of the most recent meetings, and told him that she and Abby would be working together when the meetings finished.

That done, she pulled out her notebook and added to the notes until everything she knew about the A.I. was there. She flipped the book over and went a few pages in. She sketched herself and Lexa, Clarke sitting against a tree with her sketch pad, Lexa in her armor and cape standing across from her, slightly disturbed water between them that distorted their reflections. Meizen, Klark. Soon. You will figure it out. Jus drein jus daun.

Clarke sighed and turned the page. She sketched Ontari's face to show the ritual Azgeda scarring. After that, she drew Raven when she first landed, smiling up at the rain, and finally Octavia when she was happy, unlike the last times Clarke saw her. She missed her friends and hoped Octavia was well.

Clarke closed the notebook and thought about what to do with the remaining chips. She could imagine the look on Titus' face if he knew how many she had. He should have been a great ally to both she and Ontari but his thinking belonged in the past. Clarke would never trust him completely. If she counted those she trusted completely on one hand, she would have fingers to spare. That brought her back to Niylah, and Clarke decided to trust her again.

She put her notebook in her satchel and left the suite. She went to the stables and prepared her horse again. Clarke rode out of Polis for the third time that day, two guards following. She rode west of Polis, along the road that followed the river a long way, then curved away from it.

Clarke reached the trading post near midnight. She dismounted and told her guards to stay and went to the back of the building. She knocked on the door to the home part of the building and waited.

Niylah opened it and gasped when she saw Clarke. She stepped back to let Clarke enter, and closed the door. Niylah put her back to it and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Thank you for everything you did for me. I never said that, and I should have. Mochof, Niylah."

"No thanks is necessary." Niylah smiled. "You never got your supplies."

Clarke smiled back. "I don't need them, but thank you."

"Why are you here?" Niylah asked again.

"To ask a favor. I know I don't have any right to, but I'm going to ask anyway."

Niylah waited.

"I need you to hold something for me. I'll come back for it when it's safe. If you hear that something happened to me, bury it and forget it ever existed."

"You trust me with another secret?"

"Sha. You kept the other without me asking. Thank you for keeping me safe."

"You look sad, Clarke."

Clarke nodded. "Will you help me again?"

"Sha."

Clarke opened her satchel and after several seconds removed one of the small tins. She took two steps toward Niylah and held the tin out. Niylah looked at it for a few seconds before picking it up from Clarke's palm.

"Thank you so much."

"Will you stay?"

"I wish I could," Clarke answered honestly. "If things were different, you wouldn't have to ask."

Niylah nodded.

"Be safe."

"Mebi osa na hit choda op nodotaim."

"Mebi osa na hit choda op nodataim," Clarke answered. She stepped forward before Niylah could open the door and kissed her cheek.

A minute later, she was riding back to Polis. The closer she got to the city, the more she felt both Ontari's and Lexa's anxiety over her absence. Half an hour from Polis, her palm began to itch, and a few minutes later, she met Ontari and her guards.

"Are you well?" Ontari asked.

"Sha. I had an errand."

Ontari nodded and turned her horse toward Polis. She waited for Clarke to ride beside her.

"Sorry I worried you."

"When you are far from me, I can think of nothing else. I cannot control it."

"Compulsion. We'll talk about it later."

Ontari nodded and they rode the rest of the way in silence. They left their horses at the stable and Ontari steered Clarke toward the tower with a hand in the small of her back. She didn't give Clarke the option of refusing tonight, and took them to her suite.

They stripped down to underwear and a light shirt before getting into bed. Ontari moved close to Clarke. "She is unhappy with you."

"I don't hear anything. Are you unhappy with me?"

"Your errand must have been important to take you from Polis in the middle of the night."

"It was."

"What did you do?"

"I took some of the chips somewhere they'll be safe. I'll need a messenger tomorrow, someone from Trikru."

"I will have someone by midday."

"You didn't answer my question. Are you mad at me?"

"No. I was worried when I could not find you, but your guards were gone, too."

"Tell me about the compulsion."

"Another time, Klark. We must rest."

"Good night."

"Good night, Klark," Ontari answered, and rolled into Clarke's side. She put her arm across Clarke and quickly fell asleep.

For the rest of the night, neither moved or dreamed.

100 – 100 – 100

Although she was tired, Clarke went to Alba for training before breakfast. As usual, she spent much of the time getting knocked down and getting up, but she was starting to see improvement.

After, she jogged to her suite. She knew that when she finished her bath, Ontari would be waiting with breakfast so they could go through the morning reports. Meetings today and tomorrow, and then she could work with her mother to find a way to get the chips out of their people. Clarke especially wanted Raven's out. They needed her mechanical genius, and Clarke missed her friend, the one who never gave her a break, who always had a smile and a smartassed comment.

She got cleaned up, and took a few minutes to put some braids in her hair before going to the common room. Ontari waited there with their breakfast, and Clarke sat beside her. They went through the reports together. There was no hurry. Ontari was starting to recognize words, and Clarke slowly went through the reports with her. They finished before Marcus joined them. He had nothing new to say, and they were quiet until they went upstairs to the meeting.

That meeting and the one following went as expected, and Clarke was glad when they were over. She and Ontari went down to watch and listen to the Nightbloods' training. Today's lessons were important to the young ones, but not to Ontari. She suggested that she and Clarke spar, so they walked to the practice grounds.

Ontari's fighting style was different from Lexa's, and Clarke held her own for the first several minutes. After that, it was more like her morning training sessions, and Clarke kept getting up until Ontari was done.

They walked back to the tower. Clarke climbed the stairs to her suite while Ontari took the lift to the top floor.

Mebi osa na hit choda op nodotaim. = May we meet again.