Kingdom Of Heavens - The 100 [1]

Prologue

Flashback, Marcus's POV (16 years ago)

I waited in the waiting room of the medical station, impatiently taping my foot. The day had finally come when our son or daughter would enter our world on the ark. Only hours ago had the two of us been debating the gender. I said it would be a son which we would name Julius. She disagreed, just as she normally did, and argued it would be a daughter. We never discussed a name. My mother, Vera, sat next to me smiling calmly the whole time.

The door to the operating room finally opened after what felt like hours of waiting. My mother and I instantly stood up and watched Abby Griffin come out holding a blanket. This worried me. Normally they'd bring the waiting family into the room in which the new mother was recovering in. Abby Griffin began to speak. "It's a-"

"Where's Lena? Can I see her?" I interrupted her, too concerned about my wife to wait another second.

"Marcus," she began again, tears coming to her eyes, "I'm so sorry."

It was as if all the breath was taken from my body. I couldn't speak, couldn't breath, couldn't even continue to stand. My legs became weak and began to give away. My mother grabbed my arm and helped to guide me into my seat in which I felt I'd never be able to leave. I buried my face in my hands and ran my hands through my hair trying to think. How could this happen? C-sections were dangerous and it wasn't guaranteed that the mother would survive, but it was rare, even on the Ark, for the mother to die. I could feel my whole body shake from the shock it had just received. How could I raise a baby on my own? She assured me she'd help, she was the one that wanted the child in the first place and had managed to talk me into it. This couldn't be happening.

A cry erupted from the blanket in Abby's arms and two little arms popped up and waved around. As if I had lost the ability to move myself, I watched my mother walk over and coo at the baby. She took the baby from Abby and smiled down at the new child. One little hand wrapped around her finger as the baby quieted down.

"Can I see her? Lena. I need to say goodbye." I finally found the strength to speak.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Abby looked at me with pity in her eyes.

Putting my hands on the armrests of the chair, I pushed my shaking body up. "That's not up to you to decide." I walked past Abby and through the operating room doors to see two of the medical staff cover my wife's body with a sheet. The sheet was white except for the part over her abdomen that was already stained blood red. Slowly, I approached the body, keeping the small hope alive that this was all some sort of trick. My hand shook as I gripped the end of the sheet and slowly pulled the sheet back. There laid both the lady I loved and a stranger. Her brown hair sprawled over the cold hard table, her brown eyes locked away behind her paling eyelids. I allowed a tear or two to escape my eyes and fall onto her. Any hope I had left was now gone. My wife, Lena, was dead and gone. Forever. I turned around and left the operating room as quick as my feet would allow.

Back in the waiting room, Abby and my mother sat. My mother, still holding the newborn, looked at me with a smile. "You have a daughter, Marcus." With slow and hesitant steps I made my way over to the girls and looked down at the baby. I smiled as I saw she looked almost identical to her mother. I carefully took the baby from my mother and held my daughter for the first time.

"Lena and I, we never discussed a name for a daughter." I thought aloud as I watched the baby, my daughter, stare at me.

"Her and I did." I looked at my mother. Her and Lena had always been close ever since I was a young boy. "She was thinking about the name Venus."

I looked back at the baby in my arms. "Venus. Venus Kane." I tested the name, thought about how it sounded. The baby smiled for a few seconds and laughed. The name was perfect. Absolutely perfect.