Chasing the Wind

Chapter Seven

I had to listen from outside as Bellamy begged Octavia not to banish Echo.

Her decree still stood, "Leave by dawn, or I will kill you."

Walking away to avoid the shouting, I saw parachutes dropped from the sky. Crates fell to the ground, all filled with apples.

Over speakers attached to the crates, Diyoza's voice rang out, saying something about how Octavia was a terrible leader and they were hungry and defectors would be welcomed and all that.

Octavia ran through, destroying the speakers. That wasn't the problem.

The problem came when she burned the apples. All of them.

Protests against her marched through Polis, but she quickly disbanded them, "You are Wonkru or you are the enemy of Wonkru. Choose."

Anyone who chose wrong ended up dead. Blodreina indeed.

All defectors were being invited to join Diyoza as long as they made themselves useful. A dropship would arrive tomorrow to pick them up.

"Well, spy," Octavia turned to Echo, "I want you to spy for me. Find out who's defecting, bring me the list, and I'll kill them all."

"And if I do?"

Octavia smirked, "Your banishment is lifted."

Echo nodded and walked out of the tent. I protested, "Kill them for what they haven't done yet?"

"I'd think you'd be okay with this," Octavia shrugged it off, "You've killed the same way. You were willing to kill Emerson before he kidnapped us all."

"She was right," Bellamy interjected.

Octavia frowned, "And if Echo does her job, I'll be right as well."

"Emerson wasn't innocent," I objected, "He experimented on us all. He didn't flinch as he drilled into my bones. He smiled when he put a bullet in Kadian's head. These people are innocent."

"We've all done something," Octavia reasoned, "It's up to me to keep my army in line."

I growled, "That's hardly fair coming from the queen of cannibals." Bellamy grabbed my shoulder in a silent warning.

"What did you call me?" Her voice dropped into a low whisper.

"That's what they called you in the dark year, isn't it?" I taunted, "The one who forced people to fight in the arena, ate all those who died. What happened to those who refused? Oh, right. You killed them and ate them too."

I felt Bellamy's grip tighten as I added, "You may have banded them together six years ago, but look at them. Their falling apart."

"Get. Out," Octavia spat.

Nodding, I turned around and left.

"What were you thinking?" Bellamy asked.

"We just opened Pandora's Box," I snapped, "Now we deal with the consequences."

He gave up on trying to reason with me when I picked up my swords that I'd had to leave out of the meeting and climbed to the top of the ruins of Polis to think.

Unable to think of much to calm myself, I hummed a lullaby as the words played in my mind.

Rockabye baby on the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
Down will come baby, cradle, and all...

I never knew why it was my favorite lullaby. I mean, it's about a baby falling out of a tree.

But it's just calming.

Humming that lullaby helped me process everything.

Octavia had changed. She was willing to kill anyone who ran to safety to ensure she was in power.

That's what it was.

Power.

Well, I supposed we all loved power, didn't we? And the more we get, the worse we become.

But the commanders in Polis never had this problem- minus Sheidheda, the dark commander.

Lexa especially.

I remember hearing how when she was Anya's second, she would fantasize about bringing all the clams together.

When she won her conclave, that's exactly what she did. I wished Anya was here to see it.

I guessed their secret was the Flame. The wisdom of previous commanders being whispered into your mind whenever you needed help.

Blodreina was not a commander. She was not the girl under the floor, or 'sky girl' and Indra's second.

They now called her skairipa, death from above. Nothing was more fitting for this red queen.

I didn't realize how long I'd sat there for until I saw Echo approaching Octavia's tent at dusk. Bellamy and I followed quickly behind.

"I have the names," Echo told Octavia.

"Good," the red queen motioned for her to continue.

Echo added, "And I'm not giving them to you."

"What?" Octavia, Bellamy, and I all whispered simultaneously.

"I'm a spy. So let me join them and spy in their camp," Echo argued, "Then, you'd know everything going on there."

Octavia gave it some careful consideration as Echo stated her point.

"Go," she said to Echo, then turning to Cooper, "Call off the snipers."

I released a deep breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

"Come on," Bellamy practically dragged me out of the tent.

He left to say goodbye to Echo. There was a minor problem when Clarke nearly killed Gaia and Niylah for something about Madi, but other than that, the plan went off without a hitch.

Well, almost. Nothing ever goes as planned here, does it?

Clarke and Madi were planning to leave with the defectors to protect Madi from Octavia.

I knew that as a nightblood, everyone would want a commander, and Octavia wouldn't risk her power.

Clarke knew that too, but Madi decided to run and tell Octavia everything.

Thankfully, Octavia made Madi swear a blood oath or something like that. Madi would then be trained with the rest of Wonkru.

I watched as the defectors ran for the Eligius dropship. Someone was shooting them.

Racing up the stairs of a nearby building, I burst into a room to fin Cooper shooting anyone who tried to run.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

Cooper frowned, "Dealing with the defectors."

"Octavia ordered you to stand down," Bellamy and Clarke also appeared.

The woman stared at us for a long moment, as if contemplating her next words.

She finally asked, "Who did you think gave the order?"