That's Why I Love You

Chapter 17

Lexa

After I made sure that all parties were ready to leave the following day, I hopped onto Astraeus and rode off to check on Bellamy.

When I arrived, he was hunched over on the ground. There were bruises underneath his eyes and over his arms. One eye was swollen shut. I got off Astraeus quickly and ran over to Bellamy.

"What happened?"

Bellamy looked up at me and scowled. "Your guards got restless."

"My warriors did this?"

"Yep."

I looked around. They were gone, and all of the materials I sent here were gone as well. It looked as if they deserted my army.

"Is anything broken? Do you need a doctor?" I asked. As much as I disliked Bellamy, I didn't want him to suffer unnecessarily or die and I didn't want Clarke to find out.

"Only if it's Clarke." He grumbled.

"I'll take that as a "no"." I said. I paced the clearing with my hand on my sword's hilt. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Yeah?" Bellamy said, smiling.

"Yes." I said. "And Clarke's coming with me." I reciprocated his devilish smile.

His face fell and he stared at the ground.

"So, I have the option to leave you here to die or be eaten by radioactive wolves." I said, maintaining my smile. "I can cut you down and you'll be banished from my lands. Or, I can cut you down and send you back to your people."

"Why would you do that?"

"I'm willing to be merciful, Bellamy. But I first need to know if you are willing to do the same." I said. "Do you regret slaughtering three-hundred of my warriors?"

"If I say yes will you let me go?" He asked.

"Depends on if I believe you."

"I do." He said quietly. "Even though I'll never understand the way you live, you're still people. Men and women on that field had families waiting for them to come home. And they never did."

I nodded. "That they did."

"But wait. Clarke burned three-hundred of your warriors, and now she's on her way to being hitched to the Commander. And I get this?"

I rolled my eyes. I didn't know what "hitched" meant, but it angered me that he spoke about Clarke in that way.

"While I'm still angered over their deaths, Clarke was trying to protect her people. You attacked mine unprovoked."

Bellamy sighed and remained quiet.

"I will let Clarke make her own decisions in whether or not she wants to see you. I will be back in a few hours to decide your fate." I said. I walked back towards Astraeus who remained patiently standing by a tree. I mounted him, took one last look at Bellamy, and strode off.

I found Clarke sitting with Lincoln. I wondered where Octavia was--those two were rarely seen without each other. Clarke smiled when she saw me,
"Hi." She murmured.

"Hi." I said, smiling down at her. I remembered what I had to tell her, and my smile fell. "Could we speak in private?"

Clarke glanced over at Lincoln before standing and following me into my tent.

"So," I said, taking a deep breath. "When Bellamy was going to kill you, I had my men take him."

Clarke's eyes widened and she looked appalled. "Lexa! We've been looking for him!"