Her Loyalties

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Clarkes POV

I felt someones arms around me when I woke, and opened my eyes to see Lexa lying behind me. Her arms were wrapped around my waist, and our legs were twined together. I realised that this might not be so appropriate in a forest full of people just as I heard a few people laughing.

When I looked up, I saw Raven and Octavia sitting together, their hands over their mouths to muffle their laughter. 

They were looking right at us.

I groaned and felt Lexa stir, and a second later her arms disappeared from around my waist. I laughed at the horrified expression on her face as she noticed that Raven and Octavia had seen us. 

Being the Commander, she probably had to appear tough all the time, and that wasn't going for her right now.

"Oops." I whispered to her, and I saw her fight off a smile. "Hey, don't kill them." I half-joked, knowing how her people overreacted sometimes.

"Not yet." She shrugged. I allowed this, seeing as it was probably the best I was going to get. Luckily no one else was awake, or she might have been a lot more mad. Their fun over, Raven and Octavia moved through the sleeping teenagers, waking them.

The air was filled with the sound of tired people for a while, until everyone seemed to wake up. No one had any food, so we just decided to keep walking.

"Clarke, before we go." Wells said, appearing infront of me. "There's someone over there who broke their ankle." I frowned.

"How did they do that?"

"She won't say. But can you patch her up until we get back?"

I nodded and then motioned for him to lead the way. He led me through the throng of people until we reached a group of people clustered around a girl sitting on a log. They parted for me, and I crouched down infront of the girl. 

She was probably the youngest here, and she looked maybe twelve or thirteen.

"Hey." I whispered gently. "What's your name?" The girl quivered and her eyes darted around at everyone clustered around. "Can you guys give her some privacy please?" I asked, and the group slowly drifted off.

"I'm Charlotte." The girl said once it was just us. 

"Charlotte. I'm Clarke. How did you break it?" I asked.

"I couldn't keep up with the group." She seemed ashamed to admit it. "Everyone was faster than me, so I tried to run but I tripped over a root." I made a sympathetic face and then reached for her boot.

"Can I take this off? I need to take a look at it." When Charlotte nodded, I gently pulled off her shoes, slowly so I wouldn't hurt her ankle.

When I got a good look at her ankle, I saw that it was most definetely broken. By what I could tell, it was a clean break, which was a good thing.

"How bad is it?" A tear escaped from Charlottes eye.

"It's broken, but you'll be fine once it heals." I reassured her. "You broke it in the best place, it'll heal quicker." Charlotte smiled at the news but still looked sad.

"How am I going to get back with the others?" She asked. "I'll be even slower." I thought for a minute, and then beckoned Wells over. He knelt down next to me and smiled kindly at Charlotte.

"Wells, can you take everyone from here?" I asked. "Take one of Lexas gaurds, they know the way. I'll walk with Charlotte." Wells nodded.

"Is anyone staying back with you?"

"Lexa and one of her gaurds." I knew that Lexa wouldn't be comfortable walking with a big group of people she didn't know. "We'll be fine."

"Okay." Wells stood. "I'll see you when you get back then." I nodded and then turned my focus to the wood around me. There had to be something that I could use to bandage Charlottes ankle up until we got to my mother.

I saw a few sticks lying on the ground, and had a sudden idea. Grabbing two of the shorter ones, I also reached over and snapped off some vines from the nearest tree. Charlotte watched in awe as I placed one stick on either side of her leg, and secured them in place with vine.

"That should help for now, until we get back." I said, and Charlotte smiled gratefully. She held out a hand, asking for help, so I gently helped her to stand. She put a little bit of weight on her ankle, and hissed in pain. When she tried to walk, she was very slow, but at least she could walk.

Lexa and the gaurd that wasn't Anya came up then, and I suddenly noticed that everyone else had already cleared out.

"Is she okay?" Lexa murmured to be, gesturing to Charlotte. I smiled at her concern.

"She'll be fine." I said. "We'll just have to walk slow." Lexa nodded, and then we headed off.

Walking at normal speed, I guessed that it would have taken us two hours before we got back to the Ark. Walking with Charlotte, it took four, but no one complained.

When the Ark eventually came into sight, everyone sighed in relief. By this time, it was just around the middle of the day. The guards spotted us as we approached, and shouted something to someone inside.

Charlotte was limping badly as we passed by the guards, who made Lexa and her guard strip their weapons. I waited for them, and then we walked together into the camp. Mums assistant Jackson noticed Charlotte, and came over.

"Broken ankle?" He guessed as he looked her up and down. Charlotte nodded. "Come with me to medical, we'll get you fixed up." To my surprise, Charlotte took my hand in hers and looked up at me, almost pleading.

"Come with me?" She asked in a small voice. She looked so frail and sad that I agreed. We headed into the medical tent behind Jackson with Lexa right behind me. He motioned for Charlotte to sit on a bed, and I helped her up gently.

I heard a sudden crash, and looked around to see my mother standing metres away, an empty bucket lying ont he floor at her feet. Without hesitation, she walked quickly forward and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Clarke." She whispered, and I could feel her tears drip onto my shoulder as she gripped me tightly.