The sun was low before Clarke could get to the Tower. Lexa tried to pull her upstairs, but Clarke went to the basement to speak again with her captives. She took the keys from the guard when they arrived, unlocked their cells, and called them into the hall.
They were cautious at first, but when they saw Clarke and Lexa were alone, they hurried into the hall and knelt, their heads lowered. Clarke looked at them Lexa looked at Clarke.
"I asked the people," Clarke began, "whether it was fair to execute you when you acted under duress, and they said no."
She had to stop to let Cian and Tuck thank her.
"You're not off the hook. Fleimkepa and I are going to decide your punishment. If you have any ideas, I'm listening."
They stayed silent again.
"OK, you've been warned. You'll be down here until we decide, but I'm going to have the guards give you some time outside every day. I recommend you wait to tell your families anything until we've decided."
"Sha, Heda. Mochof," was the answer she expected and the one she received.
"Back to your cells," Clarke directed, and locked them in. As they left, Clarke asked Lexa who was in charge of the prisoners. Lexa raised her hand. "Good. You heard what I want. You saw them. They're done. They won't be a problem."
"Their outside time will start tomorrow, but not together."
"Fine." Clarke returned the keys to the guard and waited while Lexa passed her instructions to him.
They walked to the elevator. On the ride up, Clarke asked, "How much more do we have to do today?"
"Nothing, and tomorrow is the feast, and the day after most of Polis will be nursing their heads."
"Good."
Lexa rode with Clarke the the penultimate floor and followed her to Heda's suite.
Every time Clarke walked in and saw the decorative concrete blocks, she remembered the dust motes in the air before she kissed Lexa, and a smiled for half a second.
"What do you need?"
Clarke returned to the present, saw the pitcher on the table, and went to get water. It wasn't all that warm outside, but she felt like she talked for hours and she was thirsty. She didn't sit down until she had her fourth mug.
"Water, obviously," Clarke answered. "A bath. Something to eat." She looked at Lexa. "Should we have supper with the Natblida?"
"They would enjoy it," Lexa said.
"OK, let me get cleaned up and we'll do that."
A guard knocked and Lexa went to see what he wanted while Clarke went to the bath. She slipped into the hall and pulled the door shut while the guard said, "Fisa Abi."
"Where is Clarke?" Abby interrupted him.
"Taking a well earned rest." Lexa took Abby's arm and walked her down the hall. One of the guards followed while Lexa tried to wave him off. "Clarke will see you in a few days, perhaps a week, when she catches up on everything that occurred in her absence."
Abby pulled away angrily. "She's my daughter."
"She is not only yours anymore."
"I want to see her."
"Klark will see you after the feast," Lexa promised for her and hoped it wasn't a mistake.
"I know you have something to do with this," Abby accused.
Lexa pulled the other woman rapidly down the hall toward the elevator. "You cannot speak to me like that in public. You will not speak to Clarke in a similar fashion. You will treat both of us with the respect we are due or, I promise you, Clarke will forget that you exist. As much as she was responsible for before, everyone in the Coalition relies on her now. You will not demean her."
"I" Abby tried to interrupt, but Lexa continued.
"You will not attack Clarke verbally or otherwise. You will do as she wishes or face the consequences." Lexa softened her tone. "Klark loves you, Abi. She will see you the day after the feast. Wait for her to come to you."
"I have never trusted Clarke with you."
"Or I with you. I remember very well how you treated the survivors of Mount Weather. I doubt Clarke's presence would have made a difference then, but she is heda now, and you will obey like the rest of her subjects," Lexa finished.
She could tell that Abby was about to explode and pulled her toward the elevator and put her on. "Day after tomorrow," she said one last time before returning to Clarke.
Marcus recognized the look on Abby's face when she stormed into their room.
"I hate her," Abby said emphatically.
"Who?"
"Lexa."
"Why?"
"She won't let me see Clarke."
"Abby, we talked about this. Clarke will be even busier now. She literally just got back from a long, difficult trip hours ago and immediately had to clear the air and execute a traitor. She did all of that with grace despite how tired she must be, and then she spent hours in the streets. What, exactly, did Lexa tell you?"
"That Clarke is too busy to see me until the day after tomorrow."
"That's not no, Abby."
"It may as well be."
"I see where Clarke learned impatience."
"I'm pretty sure that came from Jake," Abby sulked.
Marcus laughed. "I knew Jake. He was the most patient man on the Ark."
"Is that a dig?"
"An observation. As the kids say, chil yu daun."
"You sound ridiculous."
Marcus shrugged. He was trying to fit in, but Abby seemed determined to stay stuck in some version of the past she created, so he changed the subject. "Let's go check out that other pub tonight, the one close to where we'll be living."
"OK."
"I heard it's pretty good, so probably better than OK."
Abby smiled and patted his thigh. "I hope you're right."
100 – 100 – 100
Clarke's desire for a quiet night in a soft bed got derailed by the arrivals of Roan and Luna. After she greeted both of them, she pulled Roan aside.
"Heda," he bowed.
"Remember when you got me out of jail?"
"Sha."
"Same rules here. Bowing and titles are for public."
Roan smiled broadly and pulled her into a huge hug. "Klark!" he said delightedly. "If you were not with Lexa, I would propose."
Clarke laughed. "I like you, but not a chance in hell."
"We will see," he teased as he released her. "What do you need?"
"I promised Murphy that you would give him his marks as soon as possible and that he will leave with you."
"I have no problem with that."
"So how does it work?"
"I have his design ready." Roan pulled it from a pocket and handed it to Clarke.
She studied it for a minute before handing it back. "Nice."
"I will be there with two healers, one to give the marks, another to be safe. If Murphy wants, you may be there. He will need a day or two day to recover before we can ride."
"And you? Did Trea say you can ride?"
"Sha."
"OK. You set it up and tell me when and I'll be there."
"I will." He looked over at Luna and Lexa, speaking quietly, heads close. "This is a celebration," he said, and there was a knock on the door. Raven and Murphy came in. Within the hour, Kemp, Miller, Harper, and Monroe arrived. Everyone brought more than one bottle, and it took two hours for Clarke to reach Lexa.
"Did you plan this?"
"Roan, I think."
"I just wanted some quiet tonight. Tomorrow's going to be crazy and I can't just wander off."
Lexa bit the bullet. "Abi was here earlier."
Clarke groaned.
"While you were in the bath," Lexa continued. "I promised you would see her the day after tomorrow. She was not happy about the delay."
"I bet. We'll invite her to dinner. That way she's on our turf and if she gets out of hand, we can punt her to the guards."
"Good plan." She put her hand on Clarke's cheek. "I missed you."
Clarke smiled at her. "I missed you, too. Let's get out of here."
"This is your room," Lexa said, confused.
"It's easier to get two people out than half a dozen."
It took a few minutes for them to make their way unnoticed to the door. They took the stairs down to Lexa's suite. Clarke told the guards, "Unless the world's ending again, no one is allowed to bother us."
100 – 100 – 100
Lexa rose early but Clarke slept. Clarke was thinner, with dark circles under her eyes. Things must have been terrible for Murphy to allow her to degenerate. She was certain Raven had been a handful. Murphy juggling what they both needed meant one of them would get short changed and it looked like that was Clarke. She knew Clarke would allow it. She was always more considerate of her friends' needs than her own, and Ontari had been dead only days.
Lexa was quiet while she prepared for the day. She left Clarke a note and told the guards to send for her when Clarke woke. Fair waited patiently in the hall, and trailed Lexa as she always did now, except when Lexa reminded her that she needed to spend time with the others. She had to remind Aden, too, that he was still a child and not responsible for the younger Natblida.
Lexa removed items from her mental checklist as they went through the Tower, and explained each to Fair. They went outside. The weather was cooperating, not that rain would make a difference. All through Polis, tables and benches were being placed, as well as extra torches and barrels to collect mugs, plates, and cutlery.
They finished by mid-morning and went to the Natblida dorm. They waited for Lexa, dressed casually. Fair left her robe on the foot of her bed, and when she rejoined them, Lexa handed out pouches of coins.
"Have fun. You have tomorrow off, as well. We will resume our lessons the next day."
They each said mochof, and Lexa could her them quietly trying to decide what to buy. When everyone had a bag of coins, Lexa asked them to do one thing before she dismissed them and went back to Clarke.