| those who bring fire
SHALLOW VALLEY
"You're finally up. I was getting worried."
Bellamy opened his eyes to see Gina standing next to his bed. "How long was I sleeping?" he asked, looking around the bedroom. It was light and spacious, nothing like every single room he slept in living in Troit. There wasn't just bed in there, no. It looked like a whole damn house with a table and chairs, a big chest of drawers and a bathroom separate from the bedroom by the green-painted wooden doors.
"Twelve hours, I think."
Twelve hours? That was definitely too long. He needed to leave and start looking for Octavia right then.
He got up from the bed, seeing that all his wounds were precisely bandaged and all of the blood and dirt was gone from his body. He wasn't sure when he fell asleep. It had to be after he helped Gregory Martin burn the bodies of the soldiers and they all sat down in the living room surrounded by silence. Someone must have carried him to the bed.
Bellamy grabbed his coat that was hanged over one of the chairs and he was good to go. There was no need for him to stay there any longer.
Gina watched him with a frown. "What are you doing?" she asked, standing in the doorway and blocking his way.
"Leaving" he muttered as he tried to sidestep her.
"Excuse me?"
He stood in place in front of her. He really didn't have time to be polite or explain himself to her, but decency required him to at least say thank you. "Look," he started, staring down at her. "I'm really grateful for what you did for me, but I have to go. Now, could you please-"
"No" she interrupted in the middle of his sentence as she crossed her arms. "You can't leave before we talk."
He knew that she was right and that him and her whole family really needed to talk after the previous night's events, but that wasn't his biggest concern. The only thing that mattered to him was finding his sister. "Why is that?" he asked, playing dumb.
She laughed bitterly. "Why? We committed a crime together!"
He wanted to say something, but he knew he wouldn't come up with anything that would let him skip talking to them. Gina was right. "Alright" he sighed, throwing his coat back on the chair. "Let's talk."
She walked out of the room wordlessly and he assumed she was taking him downstairs. He followed her, observing the indoors on their way. The mansion was so colorful in the daylight he almost found it hard to believe that this many colors existed.
They walked to the living room where mister and missus Martin were already waiting for them. Gina sat down on the couch next to her mother and Bellamy found his place on one of the exquisite armchairs.
Gregory cleared his throat before he started talking, "So, boy" he started, eyeing Bellamy carefully now in the daylight. He still didn't look like he trusted him at all, but Bellamy couldn't blame him. "I believe we have some things to discuss."
"I believe so, sir" Bellamy agreed, straightening his spine. He had no idea what they wanted from him and where that conversation was heading.
"Tell me," Gregory said, noticing that Bellamy wouldn't tell him anything unless he asked. "Who are you? Where are you from?"
"My name is Bellamy" he introduced himself shortly. "Bellamy Blake. I'm from Ice Nation."
"Ice Nation" Gregory repeated. "That would explain... Your skills." Bellamy wasn't sure what the man meant by skills, but he decided not to dwell on that. "You don't look like Azgeda."
"My mother doesn't come from Azgeda" Bellamy told him. Even though he didn't get any looks from his mother, it was just easier to take her as an excuse. It's not like he knew anything about his father.
"And who's your father?" Gregory asked as if he was reading Bellamy's mind.
"I've never met him" he answered, cause he didn't see the point of lying to them. Information about his father wouldn't change anything, anyway, especially when even Bellamy didn't know who that was.
"So a bastard, then" Gregory noted, making Bellamy's face twist in grimace. He hated that term and how degrading it sounded.
"You're not telling the truth" missus Martin interrupted, narrowing her eyes at Bellamy. "Bastards don't have names."
Bellamy wondered whether he should say something about the way they used bastard almost as an insult, he had a few snarky comments on his mind already. But he resigned that idea, knowing that fighting with those people would lead him nowhere. "It's the name of my mother's husband" he explained instead. "He let me use it."
"Strange man" Gregory commented. "Alright, Bellamy. Tell me, what did they arrest you for? They said you killed two of them before you came here."
Why did they arrest him? He tried to find some excuse, because he couldn't tell the Martins why the king himself wanted him dead. No, if he told them that he was the blood of the biggest enemy of the Griffin family, it wouldn't end up well for him. "They wanted to take my sister" he blurted, because he needed a few more seconds to come up with a good reason why the royal army knocked on his door. "I had to stop them."
"Your sister?" Roesia echoed.
"Yes" he said shortly, he didn't want to give them more information than needed.
"But why did they want to take you in the first place? Gina inquired. Bellamy blinked at her dumbly, then opened his mouth, but no sound came out of it. He couldn't think of any other reason for the soldiers to arrest him. "I found this in you pocket" she continued, detecting that he didn't have anything to say. She leaned out to grab something really tiny from the low table in front of her. She exposed that something for him and he recognized the old, tarnished necklace with the effigy of a griffin he bought from Diana Sydney on Unity Day. He truly forgot he had it with him.
"Is that why they took you?" mister Martin asked. It took Bellamy a few seconds to connect the dots. They thought he got arrested for supporting the Griffins. Considering all the things they knew about him and the necklace being the obvious sigil of the Griffin family, it wasn't such a crazy idea, he supposed.
"Yes" he mumbled without a flick. It was a good excuse and the Martins weren't going to look down at him for that, as a matter of fact, they could treat him with special respect because of that. "Yes, that's... That's why." He reached his hand to take the necklace from Gina and she gave it to him without questioning him.
Roesia smiled at him warmly, something he didn't deserve at all. "Then you're lucky you got here. Clarke is practically family to us."
He needed a few seconds to understand who she was talking about. Clarke Griffin. If they were family then it was another reason for him to leave as soon as possible.
Gregory stood up and walked to the other side of the huge living room. Bellamy's eyes followed him and he noticed that the man grabbed the sword, Augustus' sword, the one the soldiers took away from him back in Troit. "I believe that's yours" mister Martin said, coming back to them.
"It is" Bellamy responded, reaching for the sword.
"It has Azgeda's coat of arms on the hilt" Gregory noted, surveying the weapon carefully. Being a soldier he must have known much more about it than Bellamy did. "Do you serve in the army?"
"No. The sword... It belonged to Augustus" he answered truthfully. "My sister's father" he added, realizing that they couldn't know who Augustus was. "He left it to us when he died."
"Why are you using it, then?"
Bellamy frowned. "What?"
"You shouldn't use a sword that doesn't belong to you" Gregory said. "It's the matter of honor."
Honor? Bellamy could never afford to care about it. "With all the respect, I don't care about honor. I needed to keep my sister safe and that's what I did."
Gregory looked like he'd never been more confused in his entire life. "You don't care about honor?"
"No" Bellamy said calmly, even though he felt more and more irritated by that pointless conversation. "And neither do you, sir, considering what happened here last night."
That was it, he made a step to far. He prepared himself for them throwing him out of their house, but once again, those people surprised him. "You're right, boy" mister Martin finally responded. "That wasn't an honorable fight. The things we'd do for family, right?" Bellamy just nodded, since he didn't know what he should say to that.
"No one can ever find out about what happened here last night" the man continued. "But I feel like you already know that."
"I do, sir."
"Then I believe it's all settled then. We'll be happy to take you in as long as you wish."
A part of him really wished he could stay, but that wasn't an option. "Look, I'm really thankful for everything" he said, getting up from the comfortable armchair. "And I wish I could stay here longer." That was half a lie and half the truth. He normally would love to stay there as long as possible, for the simple fact that he'd never had such a comfortable bed and delicious food. But he had to find Octavia first and that was his priority.
Gina raised her brow at him. "But..?"
"I need to find my sister" he stated. No need to lie to them about that. "I have to leave, I'm sorry."
Both mister and missus Martin nodded at him. They didn't try to stop him and he was thankful for that. He grabbed his - Augustus's - sword and headed upstairs to take all of his things from his bedroom. He was going to leave, when Gina appeared in the doorway, blocking his way again.
"Do you know where she is now?" she asked. "Your sister."
He shook his head. "No" he answered and only then did he realize that he didn't know where to look for Octavia. She could have been everywhere at that point.
"Then don't go. There's no point in looking for her if you don't know where to look. You won't find her."
He blinked at her, reluctant to believe that she just said what she said. Did she not understand how important that was? He didn't care if he'd spend years looking for Octavia. He couldn't leave her alone. "I have to try."
"Let Clarke handle it."
Let Clarke handle what?
"She can find her, if you ask her to" Gina added, seeing Bellamy's confused expression. "She has people, she can-"
"I don't think..." he interrupted her. Clarke Griffin looking for his sister was the last thing he needed. "I don't think that's necessary."
"You just said-"
"I just think she has better things to do" he said, hoping that this excuse would be good enough. "She doesn't even know me, I don't think she'd be interested in helping me."
"But she knows me" she insisted. "And if I ask her to, she will help you."
Bellamy didn't get why Gina wanted to help him so badly. "Why are you insisting on this?" he asked her straight out. "You don't even know me."
"Why is it so strange?"
"Well..." he hesitated for a second. "I guess I'm not used to people being selfless" he said shortly, bypassing her. "Thank you, but... I really need to go."
"Wait," she stopped him by grabbing his wrist. "Just stay here a few days. Five soldiers came to Azgeda to bring you to the king and they won't come back. They'll be looking for you. You're safer here."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, what Gina said was sensible. They would come back to Troit to look for him, he was sure of that.
"You won't find your sister if you're dead, you know" she added and he couldn't argue with that. She wasn't wrong.
"Okay" he sighed, once again leaving his coat on the armchair.
***
No matter how many times Bellamy tried to deny it, staying at the Martins wasn't at all bad.
He got to stay in the bedroom that was bigger than his entire house back in Troit. More than that, he had his own bathroom where he could take baths anytime he wanted. The food there was delicious and he could eat as much as he wanted, not having to worry about whether he could afford it or not. He even was allowed ask a servant to bring him anything he wanted, although he didn't use that opportunity much.
The Martins' hospitality was almost overwhelming.
Gregory still didn't completely trust him, but Roesia seemed to absolutely adore him. Maybe it was because she was a kind woman in general, but every time she talked to him or even sent him a smile, he felt much more warmth than his mother ever provided him.
And then there was Gina. He spent most of his time at the Martins' manor with her. He liked her, he really did. She was becoming a friend to him really quickly.
The mansion was so big he could easily get lost there. He walked down the hallway in the evening, heading towards his room. He wasn't sure whether he should turn left or right. He reflected upon it for a good minute, but then he gave up, knowing that he didn't remember where to go. He turned left then, hoping that he guessed it right. The corridor didn't look any different from the one he was used to going down through the day, but that could be the fault of the darkness. He got to the door that he was pretty sure led to his room and he opened it.
As soon as he did so, he realized that he wasn't his bedroom. The one he came in was a bit smaller and instead of lots of green and blue that dominated in the bedroom he was staying at, that one was painted in orange and had a lot of red elements in it.
But the most important thing, there was someone inside. A woman that couldn't be older than him was buried under the blankets of the huge bed, deep asleep. He couldn't see too many details in the dim light of the candles, just that she had brown hair and a slim, regular face. To be fair, she was really beautiful.
"Bellamy?" he heard a voice behind him that he quickly recognized as Gina's. He turned around, taking his eyes off the sleeping woman. "What are you doing?"
"I thought it was my room" he explained himself, realizing how weird he must have looked, standing over a sleeping woman and staring at her. "I turned in the wrong direction" he added, already closing the door behind him.
"Oh, okay" she sighed rather relieved. "I can lead you to your bedroom." He nodded in response and she led them on the way to his actual room. Bellamy tried to get to remember the way, but he was quite sure it wouldn't be the last time he mixed directions.
"Who was that?" he asked as she opened the door. "I haven't seen her before."
"Oh, that's Raven" Gina answered as she entered the room in order to light some candles. "She got here right after Clarke left."
He walked into the room after Gina, leaving the doors open. "Why is she here?" he inquired, hoping he didn't sound too interested. "And why doesn't she eat with us?"
"She's..." she trailed off, taking a seat on one of the armchairs. "She can't walk. An accident or something... I don't really know."
"Oh."
"We found her on the street nearby and decided to take care of her" she explained. "She doesn't like to talk much, I think she's still shocked by the whole situation."
Bellamy wasn't sure what to say. "That's...That's awful" he opted for.
"Yeah" she agreed. "I wrote a letter to Clarke to ask if she has some better healers that would help Raven. She probably does."
"You are good friends with her" he noted, sitting on the armchair next to her. "The Griffin princess."
She nodded. "I am."
"How... How's that possible?" he asked the question that didn't leave his head for the last few days. The reality of being a princess was so distant for him, he couldn't imagine her having any family or friends. Being a part of royalty in his mind meant only the great wars and conquers he read about in his books. "I mean, she's a Griffin."
Gina shook her arms. "I never thought about it this way" she said. "We met two years ago, right after her father died and she was just a girl who lost her parent. She's lived here since then."
"She lived here?" he echoed. A part of him that grew up reading the stories about her family couldn't process the fact that he, he was staying in the same house the Griffin princess lived in for years.
But the other part reminded him that he wasn't a nobody either. That he was a descendant of a former king, just like she was.
Gina laughed slightly at his astonishment. "It was her room, actually."
He looked around. "Really? I'm staying in the princess's room?"
"You are" she confirmed, still clearly amused at the fact that he was so excited about that. "She left a lot of her things here. Like, on the bedside table there is her sketchbook" she added, pointing at the mentioned piece of furniture where a small book was lying.
"What is she like?" he asked. He knew he'd never even meet her anyway, but he really wanted to find out something about her from someone who truly knew her. If she was going to sit on the throne someday, then he'd be able to say he knew the queen almost as if they were friends once. Quite a thing to be proud of.
Unless she somehow found out who he was, that he even existed, and ordered to execute him. Then he'd be able to say he knew a lot about the person who got him dead.
"She's probably the strongest person I've ever met" Gina answered. "And she's determined. There's nothing that could really stop her from taking what she wants. She'll be a good queen."
For some reason, he felt that Gina was right. Clarke Griffin had to be determined to take back the throne from the people who'd killed her entire family. "I don't doubt that."
"She'd like you, you know" she stated all of sudden.
Like? She'd never like him, not knowing who he really was. "Why'd you think so?" he asked, just because he was really curious about the answer.
She smiled slightly. "Intuition. I think I should go" she informed him, getting up from the armchair. She walked to the door, but she didn't leave, not yet. "This isn't why they wanted you" Gina said before going as she turned her head to him. "Am I right?"
"What?" he muttered bluntly. Was it really that obvious?
"You didn't even know the Griffins were still alive, did you?" she asked rhetorically and he responded with silence. There was no point in lying to her at that points Just when he was sure she'd kick him out of the house, she spoke again. "Don't worry, I won't tell my parents."
She was about to leave when Bellamy stopped her. "Why?" he called, because he couldn't see a reason for her to keep him in her house.
"Because I believe that whatever reason you have to lie, it's not something that'd be harmful to us" she said. "Butt you're not saying the truth because it's harmful to you" she added as the afterthought. Bellamy was surprised by how perceptive she was. "Right?"
"You could say so."
She simply nodded at him. She didn't look angry or disappointed with him and he was glad about that. "I'll prepare you a horse and you'll be good to leave in a few days. Goodnight, Bellamy" she said, leaving him alone in the room.
Soon Bellamy decided that he had nothing better to do than lying in his bed. He grabbed the book - The Tales of Fire - that somehow survived his journey from Azgeda, hidden safely in the pocket of his coat. However, after reading a page he closed it and put it back on the bedside table. He couldn't focus on reading.
He hesitated a little before taking Clarke Griffin's sketchbook to his hands. He opened it and started surveying the drawings carefully. He was no connoisseur, but as far as he knew, she was quite an artist. There were drawings of a lot of different people, both men and women, some of them deadly serious, other laughing. There were all kind of landscapes in the sketchbook too, so he assumed she'd seen a lot of places in her life.
The way she captured all these moments in her drawings was quite fascinating. Bellamy only ever used his own memory to remember places and people. Some of their faces became blurry and unclear as the time went by, his head failing to remember them all correctly. But Clarke Griffin kept them all on the paper, the memory of them frozen in one book.
Perhaps there were some things that he could learn from her, if only were the circumstances different.
***
POLIS
Mornings were always beautiful in Polis. The warm rising sun was piercing through the thin curtains covering the windows, slightly illuminating the insides of the royal palace and waking up John Murphy Lightbourne from his sleep.
He turned around slightly to see a naked woman lying down next to him, sleeping soundly. One of his many maids, Emori, who also happened to be his lover for the past few months.
The peaceful morning didn't last long though, it never really did. John heard someone knocking on his door, so he swiftly hopped of the bed and put on the first robe he saw. He walked to the door and opened it, standing in the doorway in the way that he would completely cover the sight of Emori in his bed. It wasn't very well seen for the servants to get involved with the royal family.
"Your father requires your presence, your grace" a servant who's name he didn't even know said as soon as he opened the door. "Fifteen minutes, in his office."
John looked over his shoulder to glance at Emori. He would much rather spend the morning with her than with his father. "How about you go there instead, Carl?" he asked the man, calling him the first name that came to his mind. "You look like a nice guy, I think my father would enjoy your company."
"My name is John, your grace" the man corrected him with a straight face.
"See? You even have the same name as me, my father won't see a difference" he responded, just about to close the door and ignore his father's request. But the servant stopped him again, placing his leg in the doorway so that John couldn't close the door.
"The king said it's urgent."
Weird thing, he thought. The king never wanted him to attend a meeting that was urgent. Perhaps he finally decided that his son was capable of doing anything useful.
"Alright" he sighed. "Thirty minutes and I'm in his office."
"His highness the king said fifteen" the servant - John - protested. "I think it's ten now."
"His highness the king can wait" John said shortly, mocking the guy. He shut the door and walked back to the bed where Emori was watching him, awakened by his conversation.
She raised her brow at him. "Something urgent, huh? What can that be?"
His mouth twisted in a smirk. "I don't know, maybe he's dying" John stated half jokingly. After a second thought he realized that it could actually be a reason his father wanted to him.
"You don't look concerned" she pointed out.
"For all I care, he can die already" he said nonchalantly, finding his place back on the bed, lying on top of her. "I'll get to spend more time with you when he's gone" he murmured as he kissed her slowly on the pulse point on her neck.
"You shouldn't say so" she whispered, pulling him up gently by his chin so she could look him in the eyes. "You don't mean it."
He send her a soft smile. "What if I do?"
"Then you should think about your priorities, your grace."
He laughed slightly and lowered his face to kiss her. He wished he could stay there whole morning with her, but he could only imagine how mad his father would be if he disobeyed him. With that thought, he broke away from her. "I have to go." She only nodded slightly and let him get off the bed. She watched him as he was putting on his fine clothes and shoes.
"When will I see you again?" she asked.
"I'll come back here as soon as possible. You can stay here."
"I don't think I should" she said, getting up from the bed. He couldn't help but watch as she walked around his chamber completely naked, grabbing her clothes from the floor. "I wouldn't want anyone to see me here."
"Right." He, being a prince, wasn't risking anything at all by seeing her, but she had a reputation that could be easily ruined if anybody found out about what they were doing. "Then I guess I'll see you in the evening" he said before leaving her alone in his bedroom.
***
Russell was already waiting for John, when he showed up thirty minutes later. He chose to go slowly and take a roundabout way, just to make his father wait a little longer.
The king wasn't alone in his office, there was a soldier sitting on one of the comfortable armchairs. John quickly recognized Sinclair, the commander of the royal army.
"Son" Russell welcomed him without so much of a glance. "You're late."
"I had some things to do" he answered shortly, taking a sit on the armchair next to Sinclair. "What do you want?"
Russell sent a knowing look to the soldier as a sign for him to speak. "A letter came today" Sinclair started. "From the men sent to Azgeda." John quickly realized what that was about. The children of Aurora Lightbourne. "They found the boy, but he killed two of them before they caught him." Apparently, Bellamy and his sister weren't just some defenseless kids. "They stopped in Shallow Valley for the night, but they haven't returned yet."
"What do I have to do with it?" John interrupted. "You know very well what I think about it."
"The place they stayed in is four, maybe five days travel from Polis" Russel explained. "They should be here already. Something had to happen on the way."
"What a shame" he muttered sarcastically. "Is that all?"
His father sent him a disapproving look, making him go quiet immediately. "No. I'm sending soldiers two Shallow Valley and you'll go with them."
Him? His father never gave him such an important task. "Me?"
"Yes, you, John. It's time for you to finally become a man."
He pretended that his words didn't touch him at all. "What do you expect me to do?"
"They stopped at the Martins' mansion" Russell said, but John didn't feel elucidated. "A family known for supporting the Griffins. You'll go there and see it the boy is there. Kill the rest."
"Kill the rest?" John echoed. "You don't even know if they did something wrong."
"I don't have time to dwell on that."
"But-"
"This conversation is over" Russell interrupted him before he could even form a proper response. How typical of him. "You're leaving today. Sir Sinclair, give your men an order to kill the Martins. And not to listen to my son."
"Why are you even sending me there if I'm not allowed to do anything?" John snapped at him, very much done with the way his father treated him.
"You have to learn how real life looks like. You're not a baby anymore, you're a man and you should start acting like one."
Of course, there couldn't be a conversation with either of his parents that wouldn't end up with them feeling him how disappointed they were with him. "I believe we're done, son" Russell added since John remained silent. "You're free to go."
Fighting the urge to say something very inappropriate, he left his father's office, boiling with anger.
***
MOUNT WEATHER
The Mount Weather castle was built by the Griffins hundreds of years beforehand, during Xalvador's reign. Because the family clan was destroyed shortly after Praimfaya, it was placed in Podakru led by the Collinses. Technically, it didn't belong to the Lake Clan, being the separate area where the Griffins wielded authority, but the moment the royal family was slaughtered, the Lightbournes gave Mount Weather to the Collinses.
It was there where the whole family used to live, besides the royal couple and their children, of course. Clarke heard that her family was big. It had been hundreds of years since Xalvador, so the house of Griffin managed to grow. But they were all killed within one night when the Lightbournes' soldiers stormed into Mount Weather and slaughtered everyone. They had no chances, since their almost whole army was fighting in Polis - the fight they lost anyway, being too surprised by the sudden attack.
When Clarke first saw the facade of the building, she was mesmerized. She'd never seen a castle so big, the one she'd seen in Podakru wasn't even close to being as huge and monumental. Mount Weather was more similar to the royal palace in Polis than any other building in Arkadia.
They all got inside - her, Kane, Finn and Dante with dozens of his soldiers and servants. Clarke was the first one to walk through the majestic gates. She moved slowly through the corridor, admiring the old, richly decorated walls, august monuments and the paintings of her family members, all of them looking down at her with numb expressions captured by the painters.
Wide corridors led them to the throne room. The throne was build with fine granite and gold en decorative finish. It was placed on the high platform with narrow stairs made of marble that one had to use in order to get to the chair. Two sculptures of the dangerously looking griffins - the symbol of her family - were standing on both sides of the throne as if they were there to protect their queen.
"The lords and ladies of Mount Weather used to sit on this throne for generations" she heard Kane explaining. "It belongs to you now, your grace."
Clarke walked up the stairs slowly, her heart hammering in her chest. It was the first time she'd get to sit on a throne, it was a huge breakthrough for her.
She got on the platform and placed her hand on the armrest of the throne, surveying it carefully. It was that piece of furniture that the Griffins used to sit on and see the visitors, give out orders, rule. The lords and ladies of Mount Weather weren't as important as the kings and queens, of course, but she heard they had a big role in ruling Arkadia.
She slowly turned around and sat down on the throne. When she looked down at the people that came there with her, she felt much bigger than all of them. She felt like a queen.
"Mount Weather got its ruler back, my lord" she referred to Dante. "From now on, every single person that comes here answers to me, and only me."
"I wouldn't wish for it to look otherwise, your grace" Dante responded, but she didn't think he meant what he said.
It didn't matter, though. She was the queen now and whether he wanted to or not, he had to accept that.
***
One day later, she was already getting to know the building. It was huge, easy to get lost in, but she had a good memory to things like that; since the moment she came there, she didn't mix the directions once.
She was standing on the balcony, watching the gardens. They had to be magnificent once, but years of being uncared-for made them loose their charm. However, she hoped that they still could be saved, it would make the place look much more pleasant. Similar to the house she lived in with her father, where the garden was always green and beautiful.
"I wrote the letter to our best gardener" she heard a voice behind her which she recognized as Finn's. He walked towards her and stood right beside her, taking a look at the gardens as well. "They will come here as soon as possible to take care of these. They will do whatever you want."
It was nice of him, she supposed. A small, but meaningful gesture. A good start of their life together. "Thank you, my lord" she said, smiling slightly at him.
"You can call me by my name, you know that?"
"You're a little casual."
He chuckled. "Is that so bad?"
"It is when you're about to be a king."
"And we're about to be married" he said, drawing her attention to him. She didn't know where he was going with that and what his intentions were, she didn't know him, after all. "I think we can talk to each other like normal people."
He was probably right. They were to be married some day, whether they wanted it or not. Perhaps they should learn how to live with each other. "You're right." He laughed gently, making her frown. "Why are you laughing?"
"Sorry. I just never expected I would marry a princess, I'm not even the first born son. It would be normal if it was Cage-"
"I'm glad it's you, not Cage" she told him and she really meant that. She didn't know much about Finn Collins, but one thing she knew was that he was a much better man than his brother. "He doesn't seem to enjoy my company."
"My brother is... A difficult man." Clarke supposed that difficult wasn't enough to describe Cage, but she decided not to comment on that. "I'll do my best to be more affectionate towards you than he is."
She genuinely smiled at him. That was a start. She talked to Finn for some more time and it wasn't as difficult as she thought it would. Those were mostly some small talks about unimportant matters, but it was good enough.
About half an hour later, they were interrupted by no one else but Marcus Kane. He walked in her direction with a bunch of letters in his hand. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, your grace," She found it strange that him referring to her as your grace was so natural, as if it was the way he had always called her. "But letters came to you from Shallow Valley" he informed her, handing her the envelopes.
"If you excuse me" she said, glancing at Finn and he only nodded, signaling her that he was okay with her opening them at the moment.
All of the letters were written by Gina. The first one was short, most of it filled by questions about Podakru and the Collinses. The next one, sent three days later, said about some girl Gina found in the town. Apparently, Raven, because that was her name, was paralyzed and needed a doctor immediately. Gina was asking her to find someone who could help her, so she kept it in her memory to ask her fiancé about it.
The third letter was different. There were no questions in it, no we miss you messages. There was short, simple information. The royal army came to our house today, requesting a sojourn. A lot of things happened, dad had to kill them. We might be in danger. I'll tell you more when I see you again.
When Clarke was done reading it, she looked up at Kane who was observing her, clearly confused about her worried expression. "I need to get to Shallow Valley as soon as possible" she said, placing the letters back in the envelopes.
"Why?" Finn asked, disoriented as well.
"My friends, they are in danger" she explained shortly. "I need to get a ship and go there."
Marcus wasn't satisfied with her answer."What happened?" She handed him the letter and he read it silently. "I'll go there."
"No, I need you to stay here." While thinking about her friends, she still needed to consider her situation. She'd just gotten there, she couldn't leave already. Or at least, she couldn't leave Mount Weather filled with people she didn't trust. There had to be someone there, keeping order while she was gone, someone she trusted. And Kane happened to be the only person there who had her trust. "I'll take soldiers with me."
"I'll come with you" Finn offered, surprising her. He really didn't have to do that, but she wasn't about to decline him. "I'll have a ship prepared and we'll be in Shallow Valley by tomorrow afternoon."
"Thank you, Finn." She was truly grateful to him for being so invested. She doubted that his father is his older brother would do the same thing. Finn left her with Kane then, heading to send a message to prepare a ship.
Kane crossed his arms. "Why don't you want me to come with you?"
"Because," she sighed. "I don't trust Dante enough to leave him here. I trust you though."
He shook his head disapprovingly. "You're acting like he was going to still the throne and leave."
Again, she felt annoyed that he didn't share the lack of trust towards the Collinses with her. "This is my decision, Kane" she told him calmly, in a way that wouldn't expose her irritation. "You'll stay here when I'm gone. You're free to go now."
He only sighed and said nothing as he turned around and walked away from her, and she watched him leaving her alone. She couldn't deal with her conflicts with him at the moment she had much more important matters on her mind.
She could only hope that the danger the Martins were in was only created in her head, and that once she got to Shallow Valley, everything would be just fine.
***
SHALLOW VALLEY
A few days later, Bellamy said his goodbyes to the Martins and left their manor once and for
good.
Just like she'd promised, Gina kept his secret. In the evening, she walked with him to the town that was placed about fifteen minutes from her home. She already had a horse prepared for him and even some money she insisted he took. He tried to decline it many times, but he finally gave up and decided to politely accept it. He needed the money anyway.
"Your horse" Gina said, showing him a magnificent black horse. "Should be strong enough to take you back to Azgeda."
"It's beautiful. Thank you."
They stood there in silence for a minute or two, neither of them knowing what to say. "Well, I guess this is a goodbye" she finally stated.
He nodded. "It seems so."
"I hope you'll have a safe journey. And that you'll find your sister."
He smiled at her and nodded again, taking his time to figure out what to say. It was a peaceful, warm goodbye and he wasn't used to those. "Well, I wish you all the best" he opted for. "And thank you. For everything."
Then she did something he didn't expect her to do. She leaned a little and left a soft kiss on his cheek. "What was that for?" he muttered when she backed up, not used to people being so... Affectionate.
"For a farewell" she said simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Goodbye, Bellamy."
"May we meet again" he responded, reaching his hand to shake her forearm. She guickly followed his movements and after saying their last goodbyes, Bellamy hopped on the horse and was ready to go. So he grabbed the reins and rode off, leaving Gina behind.
***
Bellamy didn't hurry on his way back home. After about fifteen minutes of riding, he decided that he should buy himself some food before leaving the town. He didn't know how much time would pass before he'd see some tavern again.
He grabbed the bag that Gina had given to him to get some money from it. He saw that, by accident, he put there a sketchbook, the same one that belonged to Clarke Griffin herself. He must have taken it alongside with his book.
He deliberated whether he should go back to the manor and return it. He decided that maybe it'd be better if he didn't have anything that belonged to the princess with him. The sketchbook could have some value to her and who knows, maybe she'd want to her it back if she knew it was taken. He didn't need her to hunt him down.
He made his horse turn around and headed back to the Martins' house.
***
John walked into the Martins' manor later than all of the soldiers sent there with him.
Part of him didn't want to watch what was about to happen there. Not when he wanted to stop it, but was absolutely powerless. Being a prince, he wasn't used to being helpless and so out of control. Since all of his life he was getting almost everything he could wish for, he absolutely hated the feeling of being incapable of making decisions.
Another part of him wanted to disobey his father's orders, have some sort of satisfaction from not doing what he wanted him to do.
So he stayed outside the house, doing his best to ignore the sounds of literal slaughter. About half an hour later he decided to go inside to see if the soldiers did what had to be done. He walked past the dead bodies of people he assumed were servants.
It wasn't a difficult or traumatic experience. He was used to death and executions.
To his surprise, it wasn't done yet. There was still one person alive, a young woman, although she was forced on her knees with a sword kept firmly at her neck, ready to take her life away. She was squeaking and crying mercilessly, looking down at the floor where to people were lying with blood forming dark patches around their heads. "Who is that?" he asked, even though he was quite sure he knew the answer.
"Her name is Gina Martin, your grace" Sinclair responded. "She just got back from town. We thought that she'd gives us some information, but it seems that we should just kill her and leave it."
"Wait" John said squatting in front of the woman. "Gina. I'm sorry about what happened here. Believe me."
On some level, he really felt sorry for her. No one deserved to lose their family that way.
She spat in his face in response. "You're sorry?" she yelped. "You're sorry?"
"I didn't want any of these to happen" he tried to explain himself, wiping her spit from his face. "These are my father's orders, not mine." He didn't usually try to explain himself to anybody, he didn't feel the need to. But there was a young, vulnerable woman kneeling in front of him, a person who had just witnessed her parents' execution. And he was sure she never did a wrong thing in her life. What happened to her wasn't even remotely fair.
"Fuck you" she hissed, not even trying to act like she had any respect towards him. Fair enough. "Tell the king to go fuck himself too, your grace." Her voice sounded like venom when she said the last words.
"Listen, girl" Sinclair sighed, squatting next to John. "Tell us where is the boy. His name is Bellamy, I believe."
She looked frankly shocked at his request, but she remained silent. Sinclair repeated the question, but she still didn't answer.
"She won't tell us anything" John interrupted before Sinclair could repeat himself for the third time. "Just drop it."
"I'm sorry, your grace" Sinclair protested. "I got my orders from the king." The moment he said it, John could hear the sound of squeaking floor from the corridor, he was sure of that.
Someone else was there. But having a feeling of who that might be, he didn't intend to inform his - his father's - men about it.
***
When Bellamy returned to the manor, he found a dozen of horses standing nearby. That couldn't mean anything good.
He should have just rode off as fast as possible. But something told him to get off his own horse and see what was happening inside. The Martins had been so good to him, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he left them in trouble. Especially the trouble caused by him.
As soon as he got to the doorframe, he saw the corpses lying on the wooden floor. He moved forward as quietly as he could, as if that sight wasn't enough to change his mind.
It was when he got to the living room when he saw a tragedy. A dozen of soldiers were standing there over Gregory and Roesia's dead bodies. One of them was holding Gina down with a sword on her neck. There was also another person, who didn't look like a soldier of any kind.
Without thinking twice, he hid behind the wall that divided the living room from the hall. His head was spinning and he could only hope no one heard him breathing heavily or his heartbeat that was beating so loud it could be taken for a bell.
"I'm sorry, your grace. I got my orders from the king."
Your grace. Your grace. Bellamy's head was working frantically. If they referred to him as your grace, then... Then it couldn't be anyone else than John Lightbourne, the son of the king.
"You don't need to kill her" he said. "Just tell my father that she's dead and he won't find out."
Did he really insist on keeping her alive? Bellamy wouldn't expect that from a prince.
"The king told me specifically to kill everyone but the boy and that's what I'm going to do."
The boy. It didn't take Bellamy more than a second to realize who he was talking about. It was about him. The Martins and all of their servants were dead because of him.
He couldn't let Gina die for him too.
"Goddamnit, just listen to me" the prince protested again, but none of the soldiers seemed to actually listen.
"Your father ordered to hold you down if you protest" one of the soldiers responded, a bit amused. How could anyone be amused in a situation like that?
"That won't be necessary" John Lightbourne huffed. "Gina, just tell us where Bellamy is."
At that moment Bellamy leaned a little to watch. He grabbed his sword just in case someone noticed, but no one payed attention to the doorframe.
No one but Gina.
Somehow, she caught the sight of him immediately. He waited for some sign from her, anything, since he didn't know what he was supposed to do. He couldn't take down dozen of soldiers, he didn't stand a chance against them.
Gina shook her head slightly, almost unnoticeably. No, that was her answer. There's nothing you can do. He could see it in her eyes and he hated to admit that she was right. "He's not here" she finally answered with a weak voice. She didn't stop looking at him the whole time.
"Alright" one of the men said. "Then this is it. Any last words?"
Bellamy moved unwillingly, unable to just stand there and watch, but Gina once again shook her head at him. For some reason, she didn't want him to even try to save her. He couldn't understand why. "Raven" she stated, and that was it. Raven? A bird? That didn't make any sense to him.
Bellamy turned his head away the second he throat was slit and she fell down on the floor, right next to her parents.
He wasn't able to move for a wile so he tried to gather his thoughts, but it clearly wasn't working. Raven. Raven Raven. What could it mean?
And then he remembered.
Raven.
The woman that was staying at the chamber he accidentally walked to a couple days before. The one that couldn't walk. And apparently, she was still there and Gina's last wish was for him to say it.
He moved at eq we slowly towards the opposite side of the corridor where the staircase was. He was halfway through when he heard the voice from the living room that most likely belonged to the prince, "Wait here. I need to check something."
Bellamy heard footsteps getting louder and he froze, trying to hide behind the chest of drawers that was placed in the corridor. He put one of his hands on the hilt of his sword, but he wasn't sure whether he could use it. Killing a couple of unnamed soldiers was one thing, killing the prince was another.
So he just stayed there, unable to move, waiting for the death to come and take him.
He soon spotted the prince walking right towards him with a torch in his hand. Seconds later he was standing right in front of Bellamy, observing him carefully.
Bellamy was absolutely frozen, watching John Lightbourne reflecting over something in complete silence in front of him. Half a minute passed when he finally did something Bellamy would never expect him to do. He put his index finger on his mouth, signaling him to stay silent. "Go" he mouthed almost inaudibly and slowly, Bellamy started walking backwards, watching the prince setting the chest of drawers on fire.
"It's clear here!" he called out to his soldiers, glancing at Bellamy. "But the fire is about to start. We should go now" he added and nodded at Bellamy. He finally understood that, for some reason, the prince was sparring his life and he rushed to the other side of the corridor to hide from the men leaving the manor.
***
John knew exactly who he saw there. He wasn't sure why here him go instead of arresting him, though. First possible reason was that he never wanted that guy to be hunted. He didn't think that the son of Aurora Lightbourne could be a real threat to him and his family; John didn't see why he should be killed for that.
Another reason was that, he really wanted his father to be mad. Moreover, he wanted to be the one who made him mad. He was angry at Russell, for the slaughter he made him watch, without a chance to stop it.
Sparing that guy's - his literał cousin's - life was one of few things he actually had control over and he decided to use it against his father. He would probably take every opportunity to make Russell cross.
He hoped that the fire was enough for the soldiers to forget about the Bellamy guy. None of them wanted to die there, besides none of them would think that there could be someone else in the house. And even if someone was there, they wouldn't survive it anyway. Therefore, there was no point for them to stay there any minute longer.
As they were leaving, John looked back at the burning manor. He was pretty sure he saw the guy he left there in one of the windows.
He turned his head back to the road ahead him, smiling slightly to himself.
***
Fire was catching. It quickly spread to the wooden floors and other furniture.
When Bellamy was sure that no one was in the house anymore, he rushed upstairs to get Raven from her bedroom. When he climbed up the stairs, he stopped for a second. Should he turn left or right? Panic didn't let him think soberly and he couldn't remember which way he should choose.
He turned right then and ran towards Raven's bedroom. When he got there, he opened the door to realize that he mixed directions and he ended up coming to the room that he used to sleep in. "Fuck" he hissed as he quickly turned around, seeing that the fire got to the stairs already, and rushed to the other side of the corridor. He stumbled over a lot of things on his way, cursing every time he did so. Eventually, he got to the right place and pushed the door, running into the room.
"Raven?"
He saw that she was curled up in the bed holding a knife, probably the one she used for eating. She looked up at him, raising the weapon, ready to attack.
"It's okay, Raven" he said, raising his hands to show her that he wasn't armed. "I'm here to help you."
She surveyed him for a few seconds. "Are you Bellamy?"
He was a bit surprised that she knew who he was, but then he realized that she probably knew about him from Gina. "Yes, and we need to get out of here, right now."
"Where's Gina?" she inquired, frowning. "What's going on?"
"Gina..." he trailed off, because he didn't want to say it out loud. Then it would become real. But Raven was looking at him expectantly, and he couldn't lie to her. "She's dead. There's a fire coming here, we need to get out." He tried to keep his voice stoic, but he was pretty sure he failed.
"Dead?" Raven gasped. "How..."
"I'll tell you everything when we get
out."
"I..." she hesitated. "I can't walk."
"I'll carry you" Bellamy proposed. "Just trust me, okay?"
Raven nodded slightly and let him pick her up from the bed. He put one hand under her knees and the other un her back, holding her like a husband holds his newly married wife. She folded her arms around his neck to keep balance and he rushed towards the door, keeping her firmly. He didn't need to go far to see that the fire was already there, trapping them inside Raven's bedroom. "Fuck" he cursed, going back inside and shutting the door, in hopes that it would slow the fire down.
"Breathe" Raven said when he started pacing around the room, trying to find a solution. "Don't panic." She looked completely calm, keeping her cools, and Bellamy wondered whether she was just pretending or she really wasn't even a bit worried.
Seconds had passed and he realized that their only escape was the window. "Window" he told her. "We have to go through the window."It occurred to him that there was no way she was climbing down, not when she couldn't even walk. "I'll climb down and then you'll jump and I'll catch you."
"What if you don't catch me?"
He walked to the window and looked down at the ground. It was quite high and there wasn't anything to amortize the fall. If he didn't catch her, then she would most likely not survive it. "I will" he assured her instead. "I promise."
Raven didn't have any other choice but to agree, so he carefully put her down on the windowsill and got out of it himself. He counted to three, doing his best to stay calm and started climbing down the wall, thanking the gods that the rocks used to build the manor were uneven. He cursed when he almost flipped, but somehow he managed to keep his balance and when he thought he was low enough, he jumped down to the ground. His legs still hurt a little at the force of the fall, but he didn't pay attention to that. He had yet the most difficult thing to do - he had to make sure Raven survived it.
"Come on, you can jump" he called to her, preparing himself to catch her. He'd never done anything similar in his life, so he wasn't sure how to position himself. He extended his hands forward, praying that it was enough.
Raven was hesitant to jump, clearly. He couldn't blame her, she had to know that there was no assurance that he'd catch her. "Trust me, it'll be fine" he encouraged her, assuring both her and himself that he could do it.
She finally nodded and after giving him a sign, slipped off the windowsill, trusting him to save her.
He caught her. The force of the fall knocked him down, making her collapse on top of him. They both came out of it aching, but at least they both came out of it alive.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he helped her get off him.
"I think so." She glanced back at the mansion, now completely devoured by fire. All the people, dead people, inside were for sure turned into ashes already. Bellamy tried not to think about their bodies lying unconsciously on the floor, burning. "What happened here?"
"The royal army. They were looking for... Something." He was ashamed to say that they were all looking for him, therefore it was all his fault. "I don't know exactly."
Raven just nodded in response. He supposed she held more emotions than she showed. "What are you going to do know?" she asked when he stood up from the ground to straighten his legs.
For the matter of fact, he had no idea what he was going to do, not after what he saw just minutes before. The guilt he felt didn't let him leave like nothing had happened. "Not leaving you" he answered, because that was one thing he was certain about. Gina sacrificed her life because she wanted Raven to live and the least Bellamy could go to honour her was making sure that Raven would be okay.
"Weren't you going to Azgeda?" she questioned. "Gina told me that" she added to explain how she came to know that.
"I was" he confirmed. "I can take you with me, if you want."
She blinked at him. "Why would you take me with you?"
"Because, like I said, I'm not leaving you here alone. Gina's last words were to save you."
"So you saw it? You were there when she died?"
She caught him off guard with her question. What was he supposed to tell her? Yes, I was there. watched it and did nothing to stop it?
No, he felt too ashamed to say it.
"I couldn't do anything" he muttered. He wanted her to understand that he really didn't want to stand there and watch Gina dying. That he really wished he could have helped her.
Raven seemed to understand it, or at least she pretended to. "We should probably go" she changed the topic .
He nodded. "Yeah." He kneeled next to her to pick her up, when he heard something. He listened for a second and then he was completely sure that there was something, someone, near them. "Wait. Someone's here" he informed Raven, standing up again and pulling out his sword.
"What are you doing?" she hissed disapprovingly. "Let's just go."
He liked that idea, but he couldn't risk that the soldiers came back there. He wouldn't be able to run fast and fight them, not with Raven in his arms. "I'll check who's that. Look, I won't be able to run far with you."
She seemed to quickly realize that he was right. Bellamy wondered if sometimes Raven forgot that she wasn't able to walk. "Okay" she sighed. "Just... Be careful. I don't wanna stay here alone."
He nodded at her and left her there, walking slowly towards the sounds. Several yards later, he caught sight of a person. But it wasn't the prince, or any of his guards. It was a woman, who he strangely felt like he'd seen somewhere before.
Second later he noticed other people, standing much further than her and he realized that she wasn't alone. Whoever those people were, his intuition hinted that they wouldn't just let
him and Raven leave if they saw them.
With the riskiest plan he could have possibly come up with, he moved quietly towards the woman who didn't seem to notice him in the darkness.
***
Clarke showed up in Shallow Valley too late.
She got to the Martins' mansion to see that the building was completely burnt down. And so were the people inside.
At first she didn't believe what happened. It was so unrealistic to her, the fact that she came there and they were already gone. When her father died, he died in front of her eyes, so it was way easier to accept it. She saw it, so she couldn't have any doubts, any hopes that somehow his death wasn't real. But this time was different.
When the tragic reality finally hit her, she felt sad. No, sad didn't do her emotions justice. She felt absolutely devastated when she realized that she'd lost the only family she had left aside from Kane. Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't let them come out.
Torturously slow minutes has passed and the grief was gradually replaced with rage. An incredibly forceful fury filled her body, from head to toes, leaving her feeling like she was about to explode.
She wanted to curl up in the corner and cry for hours long, just like she did after her father died and she was alone in the room for the first time after that happened. She wanted to scream, to hit something, to somehow wreak her anger. But she couldn't. She couldn't show her emotions to Finn and all the other people that came there with her. She was always taught to hide her feelings. A queen had no right to grieve and that was the rule she lived by.
She wished it was as easy to hide emotions in her head as it was on her face.
"Clarke?" Finn walked to her and put his hand on her arm, what she thought was meant to be a comforting gesture.
"I need to be alone" she said shortly. She made a few steps forward and none of those guards followed her, respecting her request. She walked away from them then, going round the destroyed building.
She let the tears fall down her cheeks when she was sure no one could see her. For a moment, she was angry at herself for being there too late, she couldn't help but blame herself for her friends' death.
But then she remembered who was really at fault. The Lightbournes.
The very same people who killed her entire family, every single relative she had, they now took away the closest people she had left. She breathed heavily, thinking about those people, that one, cursed family that took everything from her. She found comfort in the thought that someday, she would avenge her family and her friends.
At that very moment, she promised to herself that she'd kill every single Lightbourne that was alive, just like they killed every single family member of hers.
She was just turning around to come back to her fiancé and her people, when all of sudden, she felt a cold metallic blade on her neck and the heat of someone's body behind her.
"Don't move" she heard a deep voice right next to her ear and she realized that someone was keeping a sword on her neck and a firm hand on her forearm.