Indra's words made Clarke pause and she shook her head to clear it. "What?"

The grounder's expression didn't change, as if the features were carved from granite. "The Ice Nation struck us when we weren't prepared," Indra said. "It was a swift death." There was subtle anger in her voice, and it was the only indication to Clarke that she cared.

Clarke cared, too. After everything that had happened, Lexa had once been her friend. She still harbored some resentment towards them, for the nagging sensation of what if their assistance could've reaped at Mount Weather.

Would those people still be alive? Could any of them have been saved?

That betrayal from the Woods People still stung and had ultimately broken the trust Clarke once had for them. She still felt a pang of loss, though, for a young leader gone too soon and a people now struggling for direction. But after all the death she'd just seen, it was a sensation she was steadily growing accustomed to.

Clarke sombered. "I'm sorry, " she spoke earnestly. "But that still doesn't explain to me why you're here."

"I need you to come with me, Clarke of the Sky People," was her only response and it sounded more commanding than inviting.

Clarke raised her eyebrows, giving no outward signs of compliance. "I understand your loss is heavy, Indra," she said, speaking clearly and keeping her voice firm. "But we are facing our own war right now. And I'd like my people to come out of it alive."

Her face remained resolute. "As would I."

Clarke nodded. "Then at least on this, we're in agreement." Clarke turned on her heel to leave, but Octavia pulled her back before she had the chance to make it a step. "Clarke, you've got to listen this time," Octavia demanded, her tone laced with ferocity.

Clarke whipped around, dismissing her own concerns for civility now. "No, I don't, Octavia. I am not indebted to the Woods Clan. And I have more pressing issues to deal with right now."

She tried to move away from Octavia but then something cold kissed her neck and her entire body stiffened on instinct. Indra had dismounted in that instant, and now held a long Seax blade to Clarke's throat, the tip gleaming in the light.

Images filtered through her mind in an instant, of cold rooms and knives stained red. She tried to remain calm, though, even when her breath began shuddering between her lips in quiet gasps.

"Indra," Octavia said, her voice disapproving, but it sounded too optional for Clarke's preference.

With slow care, she turned around, meeting Indra once again. "This is what was so important, Octavia?" Clarke asked, and for once, she couldn't keep the hiss out of her words.

She shook her head. "No," Octavia said. "She just needs our cooperation, and we all know you can be...disagreeable."

"This? This is disagreeable to you?" She shot an incredulous look at Octavia out of the corner of her eye. "Its more like an execution."

"No one's killing you, Clarke," Octavia said, exasperated. "At least, no one present. The Ice Nation wants all of us dead and burned to a crisp, so I suggest if you really want to help everyone in Mount Weather, you do as she says."

Clarke stared back at Indra, into dark eyes that revealed nothing but a cold defiance. "Do I honestly have a choice in the matter?" She asked.

Indra didn't lower the blade. "No."

                                                                                  *********

"Do you know what this is about?" Clarke asked Octavia as they walked through it woods, Indra behind with the blade still in her hands.

"I don't know the specifics," Octavia said. "Some Clan secrets Indra just can't tell me. I'm surprised she even did, after what happened at Mount Weather." Her words dropped off a bit abruptly.

Clarke glanced sideways at her. "Did she take you back as her second?"

Octavia shook her head, stepping over a large rock partially imbedded in the ground.

"Then why would she tell you anything?" Clarke knew Octavia wasn't revealing her extent of intel she had of this, and tried to purge what she could of it.

Clearly, this wasn't something Octavia thought important to keep to herself. "Because I was the only one who could get to you."

"What about Lincoln?"

"I don't think Indra trusts him anymore than she does me," Octavia deadpanned. "But I could reach you quicker than he could've and besides, you and Lincoln aren't exactly friends, Clarke."

Clarke couldn't deny that granule of truth, but they were far from enemies, as well.

She subconsciously lowered her voice. "Does he know?"

"No one outside you both has knowledge of Heda's death," Indra piped up behind them, her voice still devoid of sentiment. "It will be kept that way for the time being."

Clarke fully understood why. For the Ice Nation to discover that the Woods Clan was without a leader would be an opportune moment to strike them down dead. "Until when?" Clarke asked, casting a look at Indra over her shoulder.

She didn't meet it. "Enough talking," she snapped. "We go in silence."

The rest of the journey was trekked in quiet, nothing but the sounds of scampering feet or the hollering of birds surrounding them. Clarke kept scanning the rough terrain in front of her, wary of any sudden movement. She guessed Indra must already have scouts patrolling the area, but this time, it didn't comfort Clarke.

Now it was almost threatening, as they snaked their way through the woods, deeper and deeper until pieces of human voices finally perturbed the silence.

Clarke had already noted the marks of familiarity a mile back, but it was still surreal to be here once again, approaching the moss-eaten statue and the stone entry of Tondc. Grounders stood by it as they walked past, dipping their chins to Indra as she took up the rear. Once beyond them, the camp unfurled before Clarke, full of people milling around her. Many eyed her curiously, some suspiciously, but all stared.

It took a minute for Clarke to pinpoint something that bothered her about the people. There was something different now, a distinct sense of wrongness, clinging to the hushed Tree People. Their usual activity seemed slower to Clarke, too careful, too repressed.

She also remembered the place to be heavily laden with grounders, but now there seemed to be visible gaps, of where they shouldve been.

Clarke looked at Indra as she dismounted, and someone came to collect her horse. "How many did you lose?"

Indra didnt look at her. "Enough."

Clarke sympathized with her loss, but that was all she did. "What now?" She asked, looking back at the Grounders passing her, still giving her a multitude of expressions. "You have me here. And I want to know why."

"This way," Indra turned her back to her and Octavia, and began walking into a a crudely constructed building, the one Clarke recognized as the council room, composed of stone and bricked with mud. A table expanded across the middle of the floor, empty except for the candlelight. It cast a spectral glow over the walls and the one other face that occupied the room.

Clarke didn't recognize the older man, his long hair twisted in a Grounder fashion, blue eyes appearing grey in the dim light, but Indra made blunt introductions. "This is Tyrell," she said and the bearded man lowered his head obediently. "My second-in-command."

Clarke wondered how Octavia took that as she nodded in acknowledgement. Then she returned her attention to Indra, hoping she caught the message in her eyes, willing her to answer her questions.

But if Indra saw it, she ignored it and simply gazed pointedly at Clarke. "Octavia has told of your duration spent in the Ice Nation," she said, voice brusque and Clarke instantly tensed, to brace against the rush of memories that came with just that vague reminder.

But she feigned composure in front of everyone, rearranging her face to hopefully appear passive. "So thats what you want," Clarke replied. "You want me for information."

"I already know of the Ice Nation, Clarke," Indra countered. "You have thought some of our ways were cruel, but I'm sure to you they pale in comparison to the Ice Nation's methods. Or perhaps you never saw much on that front."

Clarke licked her lips, suppressing the urge to look away. She'd seen much torture inflicted there, the most of it being her own.

"What's that have to do with anything?" she asked.

Again, Indra deigned not to answer, speaking only what she wanted instead. "We've sent scouts to the Ice Nation before, most of which have returned in less than ideal conditions, and not necessarily in one piece."

Clarke smirked at that.

"Its difficult to get close to the Ice Nation to find a weakness, and so your feat is ...an impressive one," Indra admitted almost bitterly.

The sudden credit given to her took Clarke off guard and she felt her eyes widen slightly. Even Octavia showed signs of meager surprise.

"Thank you," Clarke muttered, though the words tasted sour in her mouth. "But that doesn't tell me anything. If it's not information you want, then what is it?"

"You know the commander has left us," Indra said, "if not a bit prematurely. And that misfortune puts us in a compromising position."

Clarke clenched her hands together, her impatience steadily growing, but contained it as best she could. "Is it an alliance you want?" She asked. "Because you called on the wrong person. I'm not their leader anymore, and you've already shown you can't be trusted."

"I do not like this anymore than you," Indra barked coolly. "But I'm under orders."

Clarke paused. "The Commander is dead," she recited. "Now who's orders do you follow?"

This time, Indra answered her question, voice giving nothing away. "The next commander has been chosen, but she is young and yet to be mentored, which makes her incapable of leading our people. Age is irrelevant; my rank is still beneath her, but these circumstances are, plainly put, a rarity."

Clarke struggled to read past the implication."Then has she made you Commander? Is that even done?" She didn't know the complex history or process by which their leaders were chosen, but knew they were not picked as a Democracy.

Indra gazed back at her, but said nothing. a few moments of silence lapsed until she spoke. "When Heda is unable to lead, she appoints a Locum. Someone placed temporarily in charge, until her mentoring is made complete."

Clarke took in each word, feeling herself blanche. "And who was chosen?"

Indra's gaze penetrated through Clarke and sudden alarm shot through her, singing in her veins and sparking her nerves to life. she barely heard Indra's voice over the roar in her ears.

"You."