Loyal

Chapter Twelve

To be completely honest, Snow had never been to a funeral.

Quite frankly, she'd never wanted to watch the loved ones of her targets grieve and know it was her fault. And she was never old enough to visit her mother's grave.

Not that her grandmother told her where it was anyway.

Frost had been completely erased from Azgeda history. Few people alive knew she existed. That went down to only Snow, who was the second princess, and with her banished father Roan was irreplaceable, Roan, who didn't like to think about it and had probably forgotten about her, Nia herself, who saw her as a disgrace, Echo, her personal royal guard, who was too good a spy and assassin to dispose of until she was caught by the mountain men.

So she had no grave, no funeral pyre, nothing. Not even a candle to remember her, since Snow had been to afraid of her grandmother's wrath.

And now, she was headed to her first funeral with a bunch of people who hated her.

The trip was miserable to say the least. Raven couldn't wipe the tears from her eyes, Clarke was avoiding conversation, and everyone was silent. Oh, and everyone hated her.

See, the grounders believed Snow was a curse, a bringer of death. Strangely, they thought she had no place at a funeral. Weird. And of course Skaikru mostly just hated grounders in general.

"Princess Snowflake," Indra walked over, speaking in English to be 'inclusive' as Lexa had put it, but clearly hated it.

"Indra," Snow replied.

The scarred warrior asked, "Why do you stay?"

"Because the Commander told me to," Snow said.

"I have a theory," Indra said in trig, "That you don't want to return to your grandmother."

Snow shook her head, "I really don't. But she's my blood, so I bleed for her."

"That doesn't make much sense," Indra stated.

"It's what my father said once, before he left," Snow sighed, "It doesn't matter. I'll be back to Azgeda the moment the mountain is destroyed."

Indra nodded, "Anya spoke kindly of you. She said you were trying to fail so that you wouldn't leave Trikru. You feel fear."

"I don't want to talk about it," Snow spoke in English, "Okay? I'm an assassin, and I shouldn't have feelings, so I don't."

"I don't think that's true," Indra replied.

Snow raised an eyebrow, "I'm running out of room on my arm for my kills. I need to talk to Lexa."

Before she could walk away, Indra warned, "Wochas ona riskiwe, Azkwin. Krei nopro na drop yu trei klin nami."

Be careful of the dark, ice princess. Too easy to loose your way.

Far too easy, Snow knew well. She'd lost her way so long ago she would never get back.

"Heda," Snow said quietly as she walked to the front of the group. Few of them had horses, and despite receiving a letter, her grandmother still hadn't sent hers back.

"You're supposed to speak in English for our guests," Lexa said, ironically in trig.

Snow didn't dare roll her eyes, or as much as smile, "I want to oversee the alliance."

"That's a blunt way to put it," Lexa frowned, "Why?"

"Because I need to insure this works, for the good of both Azgeda and the coalition," Snow reasoned, "And because I think I might have to defuse a few tight situations."

Lexa nearly laughed, "Oh, please. Your idea of defusing a situation is punching someone in the face."

"Please, heda," Snow then spoke in English.

"Fine," Lexa sighed, "Send a letter to Queen Nia when we get to Tondc. Tell her you'll be training under my supervision until the battle with the maunon is over and Mount Weather is destroyed. After that, you go straight back to the ice nation."

Snow nodded and continued to walk in silence to Tondc. Now, she had a plan.

Clarke and her mother were both doctors, and far more advanced than the coalition. So, they could use the same bone marrow transplant procedure as the mountain men, but on her. And then she wouldn't be a natblida anymore.

"You remind me of someone," Bellamy said quietly at the back of the group, where Snow had positioned herself to best protect from ambushes.

"Who?" Snow asked.

He shrugged, "A girl called Katniss Everdeen. She was the girl on fire, the mockingjay. She was smart and brave, and she started a rebellion to overthrow a tyrannical government, and she did it with a bow and arrow, and with words."

Snow smiled softly, "Really?"

"And Tris Prior, another revolutionary," Bellamy continued, "They hated her for being different, and she grew up thinking she was the problem, a Divergent, but she turned out to be the solution."

"Anyone else?"

Bellamy sighed, "Not that I can think of."

"I'm just going to ask, why are you comparing me to book characters? Hoping I'll go against my Queen if she ever asks me to do anything against Skaikru?" Snow asked. He nodded hopefully, "Too bad. I know how their stories end."

"Oh really?" He looked shocked that there were still books on Earth.

Snow nodded, "Katniss Everdeen was sparked into revolution by the death of her friend and ally, Rue. But in the end, she traded one tyranny for another, and only saw it after the death of her sister, Prim. Sure, her revolution succeeded, but it left her broken in pieces from the people she lost. And Tris Prior got herself killed to save the world. I say the world's not worth saving anyway."

The boy gave up and walked back with his own people.

So the Skaikru believed that the 'grounders' were so primitive they didn't have books? Stupid. How else would they learn English?

Revolutions never worked well for the main character. The fire may destroy the oppressor, and it may just suffocate or burn out, but it always burned the spark to dust.

Snow didn't think she had anything to lose, save for her crown and her life, but she never wanted her crown, and her life was so empty it wasn't worth anything anymore. But she didn't want to test it.

Her memories were mostly awful, but those of Frost were worth saving. So she'd either have to write them all down, or tell someone. She didn't care if her story lived on, as long as Frost's did. Her twin was a good person.

And so was Finn.

Snow closed her eyes and shivered slightly, even though the air wasn't very cold. They had arrived. It was time for the funeral. Then the alliance.

And then the death of the mountain men.