XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia makes her peace with the dead but there is much distrust towards the Sky People in the village of TonDC. After the funeral, Kane and his comrades meet up with Lexa to celebrate their newly-found peace but their treaty is threatened when Gustus collapses from alcohol poisoning].

As the loud crunch of the grounders footsteps receded into the distance, Bellamy, whose arms were wrapped around my waist, turned on Kane. "Good job, Chancellor. You've gotten us all into a fine mess."

"Bellamy!" Abby interjected. "It wasn't Kane's fault."

"Well if he hadn't tried to impress Lexa then we wouldn't be in this situation!" I cried out as I catapulted myself out of my brother's arms. Spinning around, I glared at him. "What the hell was in that bottle?"

"Calm down, okay?" Clarke held out a reassuring hand. "We'll figure this out."

"How?" Zoe choked, her small frame trembling with fear.

"Yeah, Clarke, how?" I seethed. "They have Bryce! They're going to kill him! What on earth was that white powdery stuff? How did it get in his jacket?"

A loud groan of annoyance escaped Bellamy's lips as he ran his fingers through his dark mop of hair. "The grounders probably planted it in there when they were searching us for weapons earlier."

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Clarke nodded in agreement.

"Well now what are we going to do?" I queried, my voice frantic with worry. "We can't let another one of our people die! Especially if that person is Bryce! They should've taken Clarke! Raven was right, you know. She's the only murderer here!"

"Octavia!" Abby sent me a warning look.

"No, Mum, she's right," Clarke whispered as she bowed her head. "I am the only murderer in this room. I deserve to die for what I've done. Not Bryce. We need to find a way out of here!"

"Even if we could, there's no way we'd get ten feet without being gutted alive," Bellamy called over his shoulder as he peered through the window on the opposite side of the room. "There's guards everywhere. This isn't going to be easy."

As Clarke scurried over to join my brother, I shrunk back into a far corner. Settling my back against the wall, I slid down to the floor and pulled my knees up to my chest. Burying my face in my hands, I allowed a series of silent sobs to tear through my body and rack my shoulders.

Bryce, sweet, pure, innocent, child-like Bryce, was going to die!

Just then, someone's fingertips grazed the skin of my knee-cap. With a startled jolt, I snapped my head up to see Finn, standing over me!

His deep, brown eyes held sympathy and reassurance. A gentle, comforting smile played around his lips. In one swift motion, he bent down to my level and placed a calloused hand on my arm.

I gazed at him in horror and tried to back away from his touch. "Leave me alone!" I spat out through gritted teeth. "You're dead! You're dead!"

"Octavia, what's wrong? What do you see?" Zoe frowned in my direction.

I struggled to heave another breath as my eyes bounced around the room.

He was gone.

"F-Finn..." I gulped. "I - I saw Finn! He won't leave me alone!"

"O," Bellamy, aware of the disruption that I was causing, jogged over to where I was huddled on the floor. Sprawling himself beside me, he threw an arm around my shoulder and placed his dark curly head on top of mine. "It's okay. I'm here."

Suddenly, a loud scream rent the air.

I closed my eyes and shivered as I felt the burning sensation of saltiness dripping down the raw skin of my cheek.

Oh god. Oh god. Please. Don't let him die.

CLANG.

The doors suddenly burst open and a troupe of armed warriors, Indra among them, marched into the room.

I leapt to my feet and hurried out of the shadows, confronting the general as she stepped forward. "How's Gustus?"

"Gustus will live," she returned sourly. "However, your friend will not. He and he alone is to suffer the punishment of a traitor. The rest of you will go free. I argued for all of you to die but the princess is merciful. She wants one and one is what she will get. When your friend is dead, so is this alliance. You should run."

"He's innocent!" I cried.

"I don't care," Indra spat out bitterly. Motioning some of the guards over, she commanded, "Escort them to the square. I want them to see, firsthand, what they have done!"

Too weary to resist and too numb to struggle, I was picked up and forced into a mismatched formation. As we were all shoved through the doorway, I cast a quick glance over my shoulder and froze.

Finn was standing in the middle of the room. His legs were slightly parted and by his feet was the overturned glass that Lexa had been holding. Gazing at me, he motioned to the cup before turning his finger in the direction of Kane's blue bottle which still contained the liquor.

That's when it hit me.

The poison hadn't been in the drink! It had been in the cup!

One of Lexa's own people had done this!

One name and one name only filled my mind.

Gustus.

Suddenly and without any forewarning, I broke through the ring of guards surrounding us. Hurriedly, I rushed back into the room and scrambled around for the bottle.

"Octavia!" Bellamy screeched. "Stop! You're going to get yourself killed!"

As the others tried to restrain the guards from coming after me, I located the bottle. Picking it up in both hands, I glanced up at Finn and nodded.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Whirling around, I came face-to-face with Indra. "I need to speak to Princess Lexa! Now!"

A sneer twisted Indra's features as her eyes landed on the bottle. Before she could speak, though, I butted in, "We didn't do this and I'm going to prove it!"

Brushing past the general, I sprinted out of the room. Following the sound of Bryce's agonised cries, I came upon a most horrific sight.

Bryce, his clothes torn and his skin covered in blood, was tied up to a post in the centre of TonDC. A large group of villagers had gathered around him, spraying profanities and spitting their anger and rage upon him.

Lexa stood in the middle of them all, a large dagger in one of her hands. "I take no pleasure in this, Bryce of the Sky People," she spoke as she dug the blade into his flesh. "But this time, justice will be done."

"He's innocent!" I shouted above the uproar of the townspeople. "How is that justice?"

Lexa, surprised, whipped around to face me. Murmurs of shock and disgruntlement arose from among the spectators as they eyed my ragged form distrustingly.

"Your Highness!" Indra gasped out as she caught up with me. "I apologise for the interruption. It shall be dealt with accordingly." Seizing my upper arm, she moved her lips to my ear and hissed furiously, "You should've run."

Tearing myself away from the dark-skinned woman, I shoved my way through the crowd towards Lexa. "One of your own people did this to you!" I exclaimed, waving the bottle in her face. "I'll show you."

As I flicked off the cap and lifted the bottle to my lips, I heard a strangled cry erupt from the mouth of my brother. "Octavia! No!"

But it was too late.

I gulped down a few mouthfuls of the strong, stinging liquid before lowering the bottle and sitting back on the balls of my heels.

Lexa stared at me, aghast, waiting for me to drop to the floor, to convulse in pain, to have a seizure.

But nothing happened.

Finally, she narrowed her eyes at me. "Explain."

"The poison wasn't in the bottle, Princess," I breathed. "It was in the cup!"

She drew back as a flash of mortification and shock passed over her features.

Dropping the bottle to the ground, I glanced at the crowd gathered around me. My eyes bounced from unfamiliar face to unfamiliar face until I caught sight of Gustus.

"You!" I hissed as I stepped menacingly towards him. "You did this, didn't you? You checked Bryce's pack! You sipped the drink! You planned this entire thing!"

"Gustus would never harm me!" Lexa protested.

"No, she's right," Bellamy spoke up from behind me. "But you weren't the target. The alliance was."

Stiffening, Lexa turned to glance questioningly at her right-hand man. "Yu don ge finga au, Gostos. Ron ai ridiyo op (You have been accused, Gustus. Speak true)," she uttered quietly and firmly.

For a moment, the huge warrior hesitated. Then, he relented. "This alliance would have cost you your life, my Princess. I could not let that happen." So saying, he sent a darkened look in my direction but Lexa immediately stepped in between him and I.

Her jaw tightened in anger and her eyes flashed with fury. "This treachery will cost you yours," she growled. "Take him and tie him to the tree! Let the boy go!"

As Lexa's guards hurried to carry out her command, I rushed to Bryce's side and supported him as his limp body was cut down from the post.

"Octavia!" he hiccuped as he buried his face in my shoulder.

"Oh Bryce," I whispered as I cradled his head fondly with one hand. "I'm so sorry."

Bellamy and Clarke came up and assisted me in getting Bryce out of the square. As Abby attended to his wounds, I went to stand with Kane as Gustus' punishment was carried out.

"You did well here today," Kane told me in a low tone. "You saved the alliance."

Without taking my eyes off Gustus' bleeding hulk of a figure, I smirked as I replied, "I guess I did, didn't I? Don't worry, Chancellor, I didn't do it for you. I did it for my people."

"That's what being a real leader is all about," he returned, not affected at all by my snark, "And that's you through and through, Octavia Blake. You're a real leader. You've proven that to me time and time again. You're someone that I would be proud to have stand by my side and to help lead our people. Come back to the Ark with me and let me train you so you can become a member of the council. We need someone with your expertise on the table."

Without a moment of hesitation, I shook my head. "Sitting in board meetings and filing paper work? Kane, you should know: that's not me. I'm not a leader. I'm a Peace Keeper. And I intend to keep it that way. I'm sorry to disappoint."

Kane huffed and his shoulders sagged. "Very well but if you decide to change your mind later on, remember, my offer still stands."

I let out a scornful guffaw, "Thank you for your kindness, my dear Chancellor, but unlike you, I'm not a raging tyrant and I don't intend to join forces with such. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go see how Bryce is holding up."

Turning my back on Kane and the scene at hand, I trudged away, a grim, determined look passing over my features.

There was no way in hell that I was coming to terms with Chancellor Kane!

After three excruciatingly long hours, Gustus' torture of a thousand cuts was over. Lexa ended his public shame and humiliation by thrusting her sword through his heart. As his blood spouted from his chest and erupted all over the ground, she motioned for the guards to dispose of the body.

Turning away, she bowed her head in sorrow before giving a firm nod towards Indra, the guardsmen and the remaining villagers.

Justice had been served.

Now that the real traitor had been dealt with, the alliance between Skikru and Trikru was back on track.

As Clarke, Bellamy, Kane, Lexa and the other war-lords looked over plans and discussed ideas concerning the attack on Mount Weather, I stayed with Abby, Zoe and Bryce in the med-hut that was a couple blocks away from the others.

Determined to stay far away from Kane and Lexa, both of whom had played major parts in the recent tragedy that had befallen the clans, I took great pains to distance myself from them.

Pacing back and forth between the deep, ebony forest and Bryce's rickety bedside proved to be long and tedious. The sun beat down upon my shrivelled, forlorn body, turning my skin into a bright red crisp. Strands of dry, greasy hair stuck to my sweating face and shoulders. My cracked knuckles and bleeding palms clenched and unclenched viciously. The muscles in my jaw, throbbing in pain, tightened and pulled as I ground my teeth together.

I was worried, upset and very, very angry.

Finally, as the sun slipped beneath the distant crest of the far horizon, my anxiety was laid to rest. I was leaning up against the outside wall of the med-hut, fiddling with the loose rips in my shirt when I saw Clarke and Lexa emerge from the royal house, guarded protectively on all sides, where the meeting was being held.

Catching the blonde's eye, I knew, in that split second of silent communication, that we had a plan, that we had hope, that we could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Letting out a lengthy sigh of relief, I looked away and nearly jumped out of my skin.

Finn was standing before me!

A huge lump rose up in my throat as I gazed sadly at him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry you died for me," the words rolled from my lips, soft and sad, concerned and compassionate.

Finn shook his head as he stepped closer and placed his hands over my own. He didn't say a word. He didn't need too.

Slipping my arms around his waist, I pulled him in for a hug. Nestling my chin on his shoulder-blade, I closed my eyes as I breathed in his scent for the last time.

With tears rolling down my cheeks, I slowly backed away from him. "From now on, stay away," I whispered out into the darkness. "Please."

Finn, his gaze filled with understanding, sent me his quirky, lop-sided smile as he bowed his head.

Then he turned and disappeared into the shadows of the night.

Gif: Octavia and Princess Lexa.

XX