CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

"Yay, murder.. fun." 

***

I have never been more terrified in my entire life. 

 The two girls next to me looked nothing but composed as we walked through the Grounder camp. People were milling around, all wearing armor and donning war-paint. War-paint... well damn that's a good sign. 

 We were flanked by an assortment of Grounders as they lead us to see their commander. Phia was getting a lot of looks, and I didn't miss when she outstretched her hand to high-five a girl who couldn't be older than thirteen. We were approaching the biggest of their tents, when one of the guards, a man with a bushy beard, leaned in to whisper to us in a threatening tone. 

 "If you so much as look at her the wrong way, I will slit your throats."

 Phia snorted, as my face visibly paled. "Right, cool... that's, uh, that's nice." 

 Their commander was like Phia: Young, female, and terrifying as hell. She sat on a makeshift throne, a knife held in between her thin fingers. Her head was down, a waterfall of brunette hair partially covering her face. She looked up at us, and I swallowed. War paint decorated her face, her piercing eyes boring into us. 

 "You're the one who killed three-hundred of my people." 

 "You're the one who sent them to kill us." 

 Wow... we're off to a great start!

 "Phia," the commander stood, pushing her knife down so it embedded itself into the chair. I grimaced. "You seem to have had an interesting experience with the sky people." 

 "They saved my life."

 Even I was surprised by the hostility in her voice. Phia was glowering at the commander, looking like she would like nothing more than to take that knife and shove it in her counterparts neck. "Lexa." She added, a coy smirk twisting onto her face, like the name was an insult in it's own. 

 "Natrona!" A dark-skinned woman in the corner suddenly snapped, her own tattoo's making me uneasy. 

 "I am no traitor, Indra." 

 "I say differently." Lexa, I am assuming that is her name, said, walking forward until she was eye-to-eye with Phia. Everyone in the room was watching with held-breaths. I wish that Phia could have saved her hostility for later, but nope. 

 "I should be Heda," she whispered, her voice so low I could barely hear. A small smile quirked at Lexa's lips, and I was briefly taken back to the bridge, when Phia stood behind Anya. "Anya trained me." 

 "Anya, is dead." Lexa shot back, making Clarke stiffen. I silently willed Phia to not do anything stupid, which was a refreshing change, since I am usually the one being stupid. Every muscle in her body was tensed, and we all waited an excruciating few moments, before she muttered something in Trigedaesleng under her breath, and took a step toward me. Her hands were shaking, but that was otherwise the only sign that she was mad. 

 "Do you have an answer for me, Clarke and Nathaniel of the Sky People?"  

I cleared my throat, eyeing the woman in the corner, who had her sword in her hand. "Uh, yeah, we have an offer." 

 "This is not a negotiation!" Lexa spat, making me anxiously tap my fingers against my leg. The woman in the corner spit out a sentence in her language under her breath, but Lexa held a hand to silence her. 

 I swallowed again. Clarke spoke up so I didn't have too. "We can help you beat the Mountain Men." 

 Lexa turned to actually look Clarke in the eye for the first time, her eyebrows twitching. "Go on." 

 "Hundreds of your people are trapped inside of Mount Weather," Clarke launched into her explanation, I listened just as intently as the commander. "Their blood is used as medicine." 

 "How do you know this?" 

 "Because I was there too," Clarke straightened her back, squaring her shoulders and staring Lexa right in the eye, "our people are prisoner as well, I was one of them." 

 "Lies!" The woman in the corner, Indra I guess her name is, accused, roughly pointing her finger at Clarke. "No one escapes the mountain." 

 "I did. With Anya, we fought our way out together." 

"Another lie. Anya died in the fire, you killed her." 

 Clarke glanced over at me, and I gave her a soft nod. We were both prepared that they wouldn't believe us, so we brought proof. Clarke slowly reached into her back pocket, withdrawing a singular auburn braid, and passed it to me. I held in my grimace, finding it awfully creepy that I was holding the hair of a dead person. I turned to Phia, who was staring at the braid in my hair in amazement. "She said you were her second," I said, handing her the braid, which she took and examined through calculating eyes. "She'd want you to have this." 

 "We don't know it's hers-" 

 "Shof op, Indra." The commander barked, the words close enough to English for me to understand what they mean. Her gaze drifted over to me, her hard dark eyes meeting mine for a split second. "Did she die well?" 

 Although the question was obviously directed at Clarke, she continued to train her gaze on my face. I tried my hardest not to blush, but didn't avert my eyes. The last thing I need is for someone else to think I am weak. 

 "Yes," Clarke lied, trying to hide the fact that she as shot down by our own people, "by my side. Trying to get a message to you." 

 "What message?" 

 "That the only way to save our people is to do it together," I spoke up, my voice surprisingly steady for someone who felt like he was dying on the inside. 

 "Those who are about to die will say anything." Indra sneered, and I almost shot back with a snarky comment, but Phia beat me to it. 

 "You know that from personal experience?" She asked, and the woman in the corner sneered. 

 "I am still waiting for an offer, Clarke and Nathaniel." 

 I didn't even hesitate, at this point just wanting to get this over with so that the words flew out of my mouth before my brain could process them. "Look, the people in that mountain have been turning your people into Reapers for... God knows how long! We can turn them back." 

 "Impossible!" Indra shouted again, her lips curling over her teeth, and her eyes flashing dangerously. She barked another sentence in Trigadesleng. I rolled my eyes, my patience wearing thin. 

 "We've done it!" I snapped, crossing my arms indignantly over my chest, "with Lincoln." 

 Indra took a threatening step in my direction, "that traitor is the reason-" 

 "Indra," the commander warned, but the woman was having none of it. 

 "-your people slaughtered my people." 

 "Oh, I'm sorry, you mean the people that were going to kill us all anyway?" I demanded, my voice raising. Indra unsheathed her sword, taking a few more steps toward me, until the commander rose from her seat. 

 "Enough!" She yelled, turning around and walking a few steps back toward her throne. Indra reluctantly sheathed her sword, and once Lexa saw her stand obediently next to the seat, did she turn back to us. I know I'm not exactly what you would consider tall, but Lexa still had to stare up at me, her scary eyes making me question if this would be my last day alive.  "You say you can turn Reapers back into men?" 

 I didn't look away, keeping my tone hard. "Yes." 

 "Then show me," she tilted her head to the side slightly. "Bring me to Lincoln." 

 ***

 Bellamy was the first person I saw when I climbed through the hatch of the Drop Ship, and I immediately knew something was wrong. Octavia was sobbing in the corner, rapidly pumping an unresponsive Lincoln's chest, while Abby stood to the side, defeat and remorse clear in her eyes. 

 I felt my heart drop, and I swore loudly, scrambling up the hatch. I crawled over to Lincoln's side, but my heart only plummeted further when I saw his head hanging limply to the side. "No, no, no, no-" I began repeating the word over and over again. I thought we had saved Lincoln. Had I failed again? Was another life lost because I couldn't do enough?

 "Kill them all!" 

 I didn't even see them enter, but I whirled around, rage pooling in my stomach as I pointed my knife at the Grounder who had told us he would slit our throats previously. In return, his long sword was aimed directly at my chest. Bellamy pointed his rifle at Indra, Abby directing the electric baton in her hand in the same direction. Phia had her knife directed at Lexa, who was regarding this scene with indistinguishable emotions on her face. 

 Clarke, who was the only person in the room who didn't look in any immediate danger to be skewered, spoke up. "Please, you don't have to do this." 

 "You lied," Lexa shot back, "and you're out of time." 

 Before I could even take another breath, a loud zapping sound resonated through the room, as Abby turned and jammed the baton into Lincoln's chest. His body jerks up, but when he falls back to the ground, he is still silent and unresponsive. "Hit him again," I urged, desperation clear in my tone.  

Abby obliged, and this time, when the convulsing body hit the ground again, Lincoln's eyes shot open, and a needy gasp slipped through his lips. I sighed so deeply my knife lowered, relief flooding my system. 

 "Lincoln," Octavia whispered, tear tracks clear on her face as she leaned down to caress his face. The man himself offered a weak smile in return. 

 "Octavia." 

 ***

 "Why do you hate Lexa so much?" I asked. Night had fallen, and the air was cold. We were all waiting for Clarke to return, and I just had to ask Phia about her tragic backstory with the current commander. Immediately, her face went stony. I have sneaking suspicions that the only reason she was going to talk was because she needed to tell someone. 

 "Lexa and I trained together. We were... friends," she began, saying the last word with so much disgust it almost made me laugh. "I was Anya's second, I was trained to be the next commander... I think that that position began slipping away when John Murphy came to my village." 

 "Oh, Murphy screws something up," I muttered, "shocking."

 A small smile quirked at her lips, "I didn't torture John... I don't know why. But I trained... I was the best of the seconds." 

 Not to brag or anything. 

 "But if that stupid knife didn't get thrown into me," she examined said knife, twirling it around in her hand. "Then I would be the one making the decision to call a truce." 

 "Would you have?" 

 We both turned around at the new voice, and Bellamy stared at the girl next to me, skepticism in his eyes. "Would you have saved our people if Nate didn't save you?" 

 "That is a good question, Bellamy Blake." She said, slipping the knife into its sheath and smirking slightly at the boy opposite me. "Would you save my people, even after I hurt him?"

 She didn't wait for a response, she just twirled on her heels and walked away. I shook my head, "that was cryptic." 

 Bellamy laughed, slinging his arm around my shoulder. "I'm proud that you managed to talk to the commander without accidentally getting yourself killed," he teased, and I rolled my eyes as he kissed my forehead. 

 "Sorry that not all of us are coordinated, Blake."  

 He smirked, but before he could think of a witty comeback, a loud yell of "open the gate!" was heard, followed by an array of ordered barked from Major Byrnes. Bellamy and I shared a look, before jogging over to where Clarke was entering. 

 I could tell she was troubled. Her eyes flickered over to me, and she blinked twice, her face looking abnormally... sad. Not mad, or worried.... just sad. I walked over to her, just as Finn did, both of us having the same question. 

 "Are you okay?" 

 "Shut the gate!" She calls back, her tone very distracted. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Clarke, what happened?" 

 Instead of answering, she gently pushed Finn's chest. "You can't be out here." 

 "Hey," Abby walked over, pulling her daughter into a brief hug. "Is there chance for a truce?" 

 Clarke sighed, "yes." 

 I knew better than to get excited, as Clarke still looked like a puppy just died. I turned to look up at Bellamy, who seemed to be having the same ideas as I was. "Clarke," I grabbed her arm, and her gaze shot up to me. Her sharp eyes looked exactly like they did right before I was arrested. I remember that look vividly. She was crying, which she wasn't now, but her eyes shone with regret, and she looked really... scared. "Tell me what's wrong." 

 "They want him," she finally said, her eyes shooting over to Finn. Her shoulders shook a little as her head turned to look back at me. 

 "If we want a truce... we have to give them Finn." 

 A/N: Gif is Nate nodding along and pretending to understand when Phia was explaining her backstory. 

 Like; Yeah, I... I totally get that. 

 Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote and comment!