Divide and Conquer

Home Is With You

The night passed quickly and Clarke hardly slept, resorting to pacing the camp perimeter as the early light of dawn crept into the sky. Arkadia's inhabitants had been predictably concerned and anguished to learn of the young boys imprisonment but as of yet there was only speculation and rumour flooding the camp about his situation. 

Clarke was standing resolutely before the chain link fence, staring thoughtfully at the distant fringe of trees, her mind lost to the swirl of thoughts that cascaded through her head. Despite her distraction she was alert enough to detect the trudge of footsteps that hesitantly travelled towards her position. 

The Trikru guards staggered throughout the clearing made no attempt to stop the approaching individual which narrowed it down to only a handful of people and Clarke was fairly confident she knew who would be disturbing her at this time of morning. 

"If you're here to lecture me then save your breath, you won't change my mind," she called out firmly, arms clasped behind her back as she noted the brief hesitation that broke the steady strides, refusing to turn and look at the offending individual. 

"He's just a boy," her mother intoned, stepping up beside her daughter to follow her gaze out over the landscape. "How do you expect me to explain this to our people?"

"Tell them the truth, if you're capable. There have been worse political catastrophes than this," Clarke responded curtly, unable to summon the patience for this pointless interaction. "Peace and survival require hard decisions, you should understand that better than anyone."

To her credit, Abby remained calm at the pointed comment. She was no stranger to the complex ties of political decisions and wouldn't deny her involvement with past events. If anything, she was eager to see her daughter walk a better path than the one she had once carved. 

"How can you expect our people to follow you, to look up to you when all you seem to do is march in here and and cause chaos?"

The light trill of birds fluttered into existence as the suns rays signalled the beginning of a new day and life began to stir. Clarke watched a handful of them weaving through the hazy morning cloud with detached curiosity. 

"It's not their friendship that I need. Respect and loyalty must be governed above all else, anything more is impossible to predict."

Similar words had been expressed by Lexa in the past, but only now did the blonde leader truly understand their meaning. 

As long as Clarke was acting in the best interests of her people then she had nothing to worry about. Her absence from camp made anything more than respect a near impossible reality, but the girl's actions, past and present, were highly spoken of throughout camp. She had earnt trust and loyalty time and time again, this would be no different. 

A light breeze swept the Chancellors hair back from her face as she glanced across at her daughter solemnly. "Just consider what you're doing. There's always another way."

"You're in no position to lecture me," the blonde girl noted sharply, a cutting edge to her voice as she grew weary of her mother's repetitive demands. "If I recall correctly, we were no older than this boy you so fiercely protect when you launched us to an almost certain death."

Abby swallowed thickly and returned her gaze to the faint light of dawn creeping over the horizon. She didn't need reminding of that fateful day and had more than enough regrets to live with. 

"Then learn from my mistakes and think carefully about what you're doing."

Clarke didn't even pause in her reply. "I have, so you can either support my decision or stand against me. The choice is yours."