Kingdom of Rivals - The 100 [5]

Chapter 6

Venus's POV

"They're back!" I heard the shouts from inside my tent, but my tired brain couldn't process what it meant. Last night was my first night ever away from my little Liv. I stayed up worrying about her, wondering if I would ever see her again. And the little sleep I had managed to get was filled with nightmares of her dead body. I couldn't take it.

"They're back!" The flap to my tent was suddenly pulled aside and Gunther stuck his head through the opening. "Venus, the army is back." I stared at him blankly, my brain working too slow to put two and two together. "Liv is back."

Liv. I pushed myself to my feet and ducked out of the tent, walking as quickly as I could towards the entrance to Polis. The army had already started to reach the city. I scanned the crowd of them as they passed me, some walking, some propped up by others, and some injured so badly they had to be carried on make-shift stretchers. I looked frantically for my little girl. She had to be injured, I knew it. If she wasn't, she would've run out of the crowd to me by now. From the injuries I had already seen, something bad had happened out there. Surely she must be terrified.

"Venus." I ignored the deep voice – it wasn't Liv's. I kept searching the crowd in front of me for her. "Venus." I took a quick glane in the direction the voice was coming from. I saw Apollon, already separated from the crowd to walk towards me. Then I saw her, she looked so small next to him. And unharmed.

Tears began to fill my eyes and I took off running, quickly covering the short distance between her and me. "Liv!" As soon as I was close enough, I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms. "Oh my baby!" Tears flowed down my cheeks before I could stop them. I squeezed her little body close to mine, afraid of letting go and losing her again. "I was so worried!"

"I'm fine Momma." I felt her small hands pushing against my shoulders, pushing me away. After a few seconds, I conceded and let her go. Looking at her face, images from my nightmares flew through my mind – images of her beautiful little face cut up, her delicate skin pale and cool, her eyes frozen in a death stare... Worry quickly took over my happiness of having her back.

"What were you thinking?" I raised my voice, mustering my motherly lecturing tone that seemed to somehow come naturally with having a child. "You could've been killed!"

"But I wasn't!" A defiant little smile began to work its way across her lips.

"You could've been!"

"Momma-"

"Listen to your mother, Lena Vera." Apollon stood there, watching us. I glared up at him and rose back up to my feet, tightly grasping Liv's hand with mine.

"And you." I hardened my glare. "How dare you take my baby out there."

"Venus-"

"I don't care what you think, but a battlefield is no place for a child!"

"Well maybe if you had kept a better eye on her she wouldn't have been out there in the first place!" His voice was loud, and those around us stopped what they were doing to stare. The two of us held each other's glares until Apollon walked off to join the other guards heading towards the bunker.

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I sent Liv back into the bunker with Gunther – I knew he would keep a close eye on her. I needed some time to myself to think. Who did he think he was? "if you had kept a better eye on her..." Maybe he was right. How would I ever be able to protect Liv if I couldn't protect myself? Tondc and the missile, Mount Weather and the bone marrow, even at the cabin with the mushrooms – there was always someone else protecting me.