Sacrifice (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 19

 Previously: A severely injured Raven appears at the gates of Polis and requests the hedatu's presence. Upon meeting her, she informs Clarke about their friends being taken by the Mountain Men. Lexa and Clarke come up with a plan to take down the mountain, only to have Lexa take a deal offered by Emerson and abandon Clarke's people at the Mountain. She exchanges Costia's life with Clarke's and orders her personal guards to bring Clarke along with them to the castle. Clarke retaliates and ends up shooting Lexa.  

The bullet grazes Lexa's upper arm, tearing off some part of her muscle but thankfully not embedding itself in her flesh. Lexa feels a sharp pain where it touched her. It's unlike any wound she has ever received. It's hard to believe that such a small thing can hurt this much. She grits her teeth to stop the urge to cry out in pain; the situation at hand has already become dire and she is trying her best to not aggravate it, for Clarke's sake.

As soon as they are sure that their Heda is safe, all of her guards immediately start moving towards Clarke and one of them even manages to grab her by her arm. Lexa watches Clarke struggle and she quickly orders, "Stop". All of her men halt in their places and Clarke yanks her arm away from the offender. She subsequently looks straight at Lexa and the Commander watches dread spreading on Clarke's face when she sees blood seep though the sleeve of her armor, and this momentary distraction was all that Lexa needed. She kicks Clarke's kneecap, her wife losing her balance and her gun in the process to stay on her feet. Lexa is quick to grab Clarke's hand and twists her arm behind her back. She can feel Clarke's entire body struggling as she stands behind her. This just makes Lexa pull the twisted arm further up towards Clarke's shoulder. She hears Clarke lowly whimper in pain and whispers,

"Stop struggling, Clarke. I am doing this for you...for us."

"You bitch! You are doing this for no one but yourself." Clarke hisses.

"I'd rather you hate me than you lose your life, Clarke." Lexa replies harshly.

"I am never going to forget this or forgive you, remember that." Clarke warns.

Lexa just tightens her grip on her wife. All the grounders in the vicinity have frozen; not quite sure what their course of action should be. Both the Heda and Hedatu pay no heed to them. In this moment, there is no one but the two of them.

"Leave me, you snake." Clarke spits.

"You are not making this easy for me or yourself, Clarke." Lexa sighs audibly in her ear.

"Ryder, tie up the Hedatu and bring her along." She finally orders her guard as another one brings a cloth to bandage her bleeding arm. It is quickly tied around her bicep and they make their way back to the castle.

...

Clarke is frustrated beyond belief. She has been locked in her room for what seems like hours. She had been put there without a word half an hour ago, the key turning in the lock and guards posting themselves at the door still echoing in her restless mind. She feels like a caged animal, pacing, carving routes on the floor from the door to the window, bed to the table, a wide trail circling the room, huffing and shuffling, but nothing can quiet her inner turmoil. She wants to scream, shout, give voice to her agony but she doesn't. She decides that she will not appear weak. She paces and paces to gain control of her emotions

She had trusted Lexa who had betrayed her in the worst possible way. She has to get out of there before Lexa shows up because as long as Lexa is near her, she knows it won't be possible. She stops her pacing in front of the door and tries to kick it open but fails. She waits and expects guards to barge in but nothing happens, as if they weren't there at all. So she gives another kick, just for the sake of trying but the door barely flinches. Damn the Commander's room and the strong lock on that sturdy door, she curses inwardly. She goes to the barred window, looks out to the ground and huffs. Even if she somehow managed to get the rusty bars off, there was no way she could get down without losing her life. Lexa just had to live on the top floor of the castle.