BOOK ONE IN THE SALVATION SERIES
"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."
"You just ripped off Winston Churchill."
"Wow, Blake, congratulations...
" it hit her suddenly, the wave of hopelessness that made her want to save them even more "
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Clarke sighs audibly, and I keep my eyes on Anya no matter how much I want to watch her guards, see if their hands move towards their weapons. But Lincoln's words are engrained in my head, knowing it could be a sign of disrespect if I don't focus on Anya- and that could get us killed.
"I think we got off to a rough start," Clarke begins, and I'm glad she gathered her thoughts. "But we want to find a way to live together, in peace," Clarke offers up her take on it, eyebrows arching in emphasis.
Anya stares back at Clarke unblinking. "I understand. You started a war you don't know how to end," I clench my teeth in anger, trying to understand from their point of view. I felt bad, knowing we've killed their people, invaded their territory— but in my mind there was no reason it was punishable by death, and I would not allow my people to suffer.
Clarke doesn't do as well containing her emotions. "What?" She starts, defensively. "No, we didn't start anything, you attacked us for no reason!" Her voice rises slightly.
I press into her side lightly. "Clarke," I hiss a warning, knowing I probably should've filled Clarke in on events she didn't know occurred. Lincoln hadn't hesitated telling Octavia and I the result of the flares.
Clarke looks at me out of her peripheral vision, and then when her shoulders square I know she's regained her composure.
"No reason?" Anya fires back, her voice raised equally as loud. "The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground!" My lip slips between my teeth as Anya takes a step closer, anger radiating from her. My nervous energy starts to eat away at me, and I fight the urge to back away from Anya. I'm not afraid.
Clarke's mouth parts in surprise, eyes widening in sorry. "The flares? That was a signal, for our families, we had no idea-" Anya cuts Clarke off, clearly unamused.
"You burnt a whole village," She sneers, getting slightly into Clarke's face, but she doesn't back down. I swallow the lump forming in my throat, knowing Raven and I probably killed innocent people with those flares. Flares that didn't even help the three hundred people murdered to save air.
I bite back my comment that clearly sides with the hundred, knowing that won't get us anywhere. "We're sorry for that, it was never intended. You have a right to be angry- we know that, but there doesn't need to be more death on either side," I explain, willing my hands to stop shaking by my sides.
Anya seems to calm slightly by my intervention, but she seemingly hasn't gotten her whole point across.
"You're invaders. Your ship landed in our territory," Anya blames, her lips curving downward out of spite.
