Lightning Only Strikes Once - Clexa

Chapter 73: The Real Deal

When Clarke wakes up again she's not in the truck anymore. Instead she's in an Azgeda house. She recognises the style of design, the comfortable wornness of the furniture, the animal skins everywhere. She's on the bed, untied, and dressed in warm clothing. Her ankle still throbs with pain, but it's a duller pain now. She must have been asleep for some time. Seated on a chair across the room, legs crossed elegantly, not a hair out of place, is Diana Sydney.

"It's good to see you're awake," Diana says lightly, hazel eyes surveying Clarke shrewdly. Her gaze fixes on Clarke's neckline for a moment, which is still patterned with the bruises Emerson left, turning brown and yellow as they heal. Clarke pulls her jacket closed to cover them. "You did quite a bit of damage to my people."

"I didn't know they were your people," Clarke says, sitting up. She does up her jacket properly, wanting even more warmth. Her head feels like it's stuffed with cotton wool. She realises suddenly that although they've taken her weapons, she still has the hidden knife in her hair. If she'd used that earlier, she might have been able to take out all of the guards, even with an injured ankle – but then she would have frozen trying to escape. She could use it now, as well, but she would still hit the same problems. No doubt the rest of Prison Station is outside. She can't take them all on.

"Yes, they told me that," Diana says, still looking at Clarke like she's an interesting puzzle. "I find it surprising that you wouldn't recognise some of the people who helped imprison you for a year."

"I didn't really notice them as individuals," Clarke says. "And to be honest, I never expected to see anyone from Prison Station again. The Commander told me you'd freeze."

"I'm sure the Commander thought we'd die. After all, she ordered the barbarian queen in charge of these parts to kill us," Diana says.

"She didn't tell me that." She didn't do that, thinks Clarke, though she fakes an angry frown at the supposed betrayal. So is this Diana's lie or Nia's?

"Luckily, the queen made a different call," Diana continues, and Clarke decides it's Nia's lie. "Instead, she gave us this – somewhat primitive – village to live in. She's supplied us with food and water."

"That's very nice of her," Clarke says. "In return for what? None of these people do anything for nothing." It's important she sets herself up as opposed to Lexa as soon as possible. She can't be another head sent to Lexa, another Costia. She won't do that to her.

"Nia recognises we have a lot of assistance to offer," Diana says casually. "Our weaponry, our ability to get into Arkadia undercover, and our understanding of technology, to start with. And you."

Clarke glances down at herself and notices, with some incredulity, that they've bandaged her broken ankle carefully. They're handing her over to die – but they want her to be in good condition when she does. The hypocrisy is sickening.

"Be careful," Clarke says darkly, looking up at Diana again. "These savages only keep their word as long as it suits them. Even when they do keep to their word, they betray you in some other way. Look at what happened to our people." She feels like she's pretending to be Pike. It's uncomfortable, but it does seem to be intriguing Diana. Perhaps, after all, this is an attitude Diana understands.

"What did happen to our people?" Diana asks, sounding only mildly curious. "My guards said everyone seemed fine when they went there to retrieve you and the missile."

"They are," Clarke says flatly. "For now. Kane's keeping everyone calm by pretending the Grounders have been lovely to us, so helpful . They don't realise yet that the 'rent' he's mentioned is basically everything we're able to produce, plus all of our technology. They're planning to make us their slaves, supporting the whole region. They even put the survivors of Mount Weather in with us to work them to death as well."