Kemp sent scout teams to follow their quarry and Clarke waited for Cian's family to arrive. She wanted to reassure his wife that their children wouldn't be punished for their father's actions. That didn't take long, and she went back to walking around the camp while she waited for the scouts.

They returned the next morning, each dragging a resisting traitor. Clarke and the rest of the camp watched the gona bring them to Clarke and shove them to their knees in front of her. She looked down at Lander. "Nothing to say now?"

He stayed still and silent.

"Have it your way." Clarke walked away and two warriors dragged Lander to his feet and shoved him toward Clarke's back. They pushed him through camp and stopped in front of her tent. She gestured for them to wait, then turned around to instruct the guards, "She's not allowed to kill him."

Raven was lying on her furs staring at nothing over her head.

"There's something out here for you," Clarke told her.

Raven looked at her suspiciously but went outside. Her scream of fury when she saw Lander echoed through the camp. The only reason he didn't fall when Raven slammed into him was the warriors who held him upright.

Raven beat on him, yelling the entire time, until she couldn't any more. She spit on him, thanked the guards and went back into their tent, smiling.

100 – 100 – 100

While Raven worked out her feelings, Clarke returned to Tuck kom Shadow Valley. He was on his knees in the dirt where she left him, and Clarke made a note to let Kemp know how pleased she was with his troops' discipline.

"Why?" she asked. Clarke didn't expect an answer but waited for it anyway. "Who's your heir?"

Clarke sighed when he didn't answer. "I'm telling you what I told Cian. I don't want to hurt our people, so I'm asking you to save them from your stupidity."

They heard Raven's last hoarse scream, and Tuck shivered.

"You're next," Clarke said, "unless you tell me what I need to know."

He started talking so rapidly that Clarke had to make him start over. "Moba, Heda. Lander has my children."

It took a while to get the whole story and when he finished, Clarke was sorry she could kill Lander only once. The only time he looked at Clarke was when he begged her to save his children. She signaled the guard to take him away.

A few seconds later, she went looking for Kemp. She repeated Tuck's story and asked, "Is there any way this is true?"

"It could be. You can verify it when we return to Polis."

Clarke pushed the heel of her hand up her forehand but her headache kept coming. "Let's find out now," she said.

Kemp followed Clarke to her tent. It was empty so she grabbed her satchel. They crossed the camp to the prisoners. Kemp had Lander brought forward while Clarke dug in her bag. He was on his knees when she pulled out the right vial. She showed it to Kemp and the soldiers, who forced Lander's head back and opened his mouth so Clarke could dose him.

She could tell when it kicked in and started the questions. "Where are your hostages?"

"Far away."

"Where?"

While he described it, both Clarke and Kemp listened carefully. When he stopped, Clarke asked, "Anything else I should know?"

Lander helpfully identified his spies in Polis before the effect began to fade.

100 – 100 – 100

Clarke sent a messenger to Trikru asking for a wagon with a cage. They couldn't go back to Polis yet, and there weren't enough soldiers to keep watch on them. A wagon would solve that problem by providing a portable jail. She would have a few guards go with Trikru to take Lander directly to Polis. The other two were resigned to their fates, but Clarke wanted to have all the facts before taking someone's life.

Clarke rode out and took half a dozen guards with her. The Rock Line capital was only a few miles down the road, their lands long but narrow. She would talk to Cian again after she recovered Tuck's family. In the meantime, Clarke wanted to see whether there was anyone there she could leave in charge.

Instead, they had to dive from their horses and get into cover when they were ambushed near the town. Clarke stayed behind her rock cover and spread the word for them to stay down and force the enemy to approach. She waited for an hour, then motioned for everyone to fall back through the trees.

When they returned to camp, Kemp was ready to march out. He stood down and waited to hear what happened, but Clarke blew by him and went to Lander. "Jokin branwada! Your people just fucking attacked me, and now I have to kill them. Are you fucking happy?"

Murphy headed her way as soon as he heard Clarke explode.

She stood over Lander, screaming, and Murphy pulled her back before she tore him to pieces. "He isn't worth it."

Clarke turned around and looked at him and he was certain Clarke had this same look on her face in Mount Weather. "All of them," she whispered, and Murphy remembered his conversation with Roan.

"C'mon." He pulled her away from the prisoners, toward the center of camp but not her tent because Raven was finally asleep.

He took her to Kemp. They needed to send messages to Polis, and were down to one messenger. Clarke ordered her to conscript messengers in the nearest Trikru village. As soon as she left, Clarke sat on a log and began writing in the back of her sketchbook. She ripped the page out and folded it. While she waited, she doodled on it. The fire. Tents. The tall pines. Deen's markings. She was zoned out when the messenger returned. "Heda."

Clarke looked up and got to her feet. "Who's fastest?"

Two of the Trikru pointed at the third. Clarke held out the paper. "This is an urgent message for Fleimkepa."

"She will have it by morning."

"Mochof," she said, and the messenger sprinted away. Clarke looked at the others. "Any word about the wagon?"

"It is coming from Tondisi."

Clarke nodded. Another day. "Check with Kemp. If he doesn't need you yet, make sure you eat something."

100 – 100 – 100

Polis was quiet, unsettled. Lexa tried to stay focused. She called the ambassadors to a meeting the morning Clarke left to explain her absence. They were skittish and unsure what messages to send home.

The Natblida were somber. They had lost two hedas in a short time. Getting Lexa back was a bonus, and they were all thrilled that she was their teacher now, but they had grieved her, now grieved Ontari, and worried for their new heda, far from her Tower.

When Clarke's message arrived, Lexa waited until she was alone to open it. The little drawings on the outside made her cautiously optimistic, but Clarke's words ended that.

"I need the fucking armies, Lexa. They're all under guard, but Lander...I wish there was something worse than execution. He took Cian's children and held them hostage. He held Tuck's family hostage, too. They couldn't leave their home. I know they have to die because they rode with him, but it was under duress. Right now I'm inclined to let their successions stand. Rock Line is over, though. We rode up toward his capital and they fucking shot at us. I'm wearing the damn cape and pauldron and war paint and those stupid, stupid people shot at us. They wouldn't come after us, though.

"I hate this, Lexa. Another genocide, because otherwise it will all just start again in a decade. Because one misogynistic jackass got his feelings hurt when his ill manners were corrected. Because he thought he could get the last word. He's too stupid to understand what he's done. He doesn't think I'll do as I say.

"I will."

Lexa could feel Clarke's rage as she read, and the sorrow underneath. Another genocide. Lexa remembered all too well how Clarke was after the last one. Lexa gathered the ambassadors again and issued the call for troops.

She had no idea how to answer Clarke but sat down and did her best.

"I am so sorry. I know this is not how you want to resolve the situation. It is terrible but there is no other way yet. Do what you must and return to me, Klark. By the time you read this, the armies will be on the way."

100 – 100 – 100

At Kemp's suggestion, they broke camp and moved back into Trikru territory to wait. Indra arrived a few hours later. "Heda, Trikru have sent 100 warriors."

"Mochof."

"Why are we here?"

"Lander attacked Polis and Ontari died in battle. We caught him, and when we rode toward his capital, we were ambushed."

"Branwada."

Clarke nodded. "We're waiting for the rest. Floukru and Azgeda will be here soon. They were already in Polis. Plains Riders are still coming. We can go now if you want or wait for the others."

"We can go now," Indra agreed.

Clarke gathered a dozen more troops to accompany them. Murphy and Raven were with them. There was no pretense of peace on her part or the part of the riders who met them. Their only warning was Clarke kicking her horse and drawing her weapon, those around her seconds behind.

Everyone was bloody by the time it ended. None of the Rock Line riders escaped to report, and Clarke kept moving forward. They destroyed the town, left nothing but smoke, ash, and bodies behind. The Plains riders met them at the road's highest point.

They didn't dismount, but bowed their heads to Clarke.

"You know Rock Line borders?" she asked.

"Sha."

"Destroy everything inside them."

"Heda?"

"They attacked me twice."

Clarke watched his face harden until it matched hers. "Sha, Heda."

"Go south. We'll go north."

As villages burned, smoke stayed in the air. Clarke's reinforcements arrived the next day, and she sent Azgeda toward the Plains riders and added Floukru to her force. With the extra soldiers, they were able to spread out more and double back less.

Murphy stayed beside Clarke the entire time and harassed her to eat, drink, and rest. As she always did, Clarke performed her duty, but every time Murphy looked at her, he wondered how much of Clarke would be left when they were done. Raven kept him busy, too. Most of the time she was OK, but she, too, wasn't completely present. They kept up a good front but Murphy could tell they were struggling because he knew them.

Clarke walked the camp a lot. She wasn't sleeping, couldn't sketch, and didn't want to write anyone. She felt like she was always covered in blood, her hands alternately tacky and slick. The smell of death was always in her nose, and she would have puked when she heard the screams, but there was nothing to bring up.

100 – 100 – 100

On the fifth day, they reached the clearly marked northern border, having burned everything behind them. Nothing survived. When they were in camp that night, Clarke asked Kemp for the map. She followed him to his tent, and he unrolled it on the ground. Together they went over everywhere they'd been, making certain they missed nothing.

The next afternoon, Floukru and the Plains riders returned. Clarke did the same with them. Satisfied that Rock Line would bother no one again, Clarke rode for Polis.

100 – 100 – 100

Messengers reported that Clarke would be in Polis the next day. The prisoners had arrived days ago and were locked up in the basement, Cian and Tuck beside each other, Lander at the far end. Apart from Lander's regular outbursts, it was quiet down there.

Lexa planned the rest of Clarke's Ascension while she was gone. She was glad that Luna stayed in Polis to wait for her troops to return. She helped Lexa train the Natblida and listened to Lexa's concerns. None of them, Luna noticed, were about Clarke and Lexa didn't talk about her, either.

Roan was still in Polis, healing, avoiding Abby Griffin, and waiting for Clarke's return. Skaikru continued to build their section. Marcus made the rounds of ambassadors on Clarke's behalf, but he was much happier working outside with the younger members of Skaikru. Roger and Fay went to the market twice a day, looking for anything useful. Their shelves were bare, and they had no idea where else to obtain supplies.

100 – 100 – 100

When the messengers told Lexa that Clarke was an hour out, she gave Fair a spyglass and sent her to the top of the tower. "As soon as Heda steps inside the gate, light the fire. When it's going, return the spyglass here and join the Natblida at the stable to wait for her."

Fair thought for a second before asking, "Where will you be?"

"At the arena. Please tell Heda she should go there first. The people will be waiting."