I Thought Love was Weakness?

CHAPTER SEVEN

What felt like a century later, they arrived in Polis. The first thing Clarke noticed was the large skyscraper towering over the mountains and trees in the distance. As they approached the gates, she could hear the ring of, "Heda!!" in the air. She was their hero- several men, women, and children handed her gifts and bowed their heads in respect as she smiled gracefully and accepted them. There were tents and buildings set up everywhere Clarke could see, and the smell of fresh cooked food permanently lingered in the air.

The warriors dispersed to visit their families, or straight to sleep in a house or tent. Everyone else made their way to the stables to hand off their horses, except Lexa. She slid off her horse and handed the reins to an attendee and walked inside of the skyscraper.

Now what? Clarke thought. This would be just like last night with nowhere to go, in a city of strangers. So instead, to buy time, she enjoyed the food of Polis and tried her best to communicate to the citizens.

She was surprised when many people came up to her and tried to use hand symbols to ask her questions. The most common signal, being, pointing to the sky then showing something land to their feet, where they would then shrug their shoulders, demanding an explanation.

After she could no longer buy any more time, due to the setting sun, she wandered hopelessly through the city. She noticed a young woman had been following her for the last 15 minutes, so Clarke spun on her heels and marched towards her.

Before Clarke could speak, the young woman said,

"Clarke! Thank God! I have been trying to catch up to you forever!" She exclaimed.

Clarke's POV-

"Who are you?" I questioned.

"Oh, right. I'm Niylah! The Commander sent me to show you to your room."

"Thank god." I mumbled.

"What was that?" She questioned me.

"Oh, sorry, nothing." I spun on my heels and began to make my way to the tents that had been set up on the periphery of the city, to accommodate the extra warriors.

"Where are you going?" Niylah stood confused.

"To sleep?"

Niylah let out a playful sigh and motioned to the skyscraper. I followed her, more than willingly.

"So, I hear you're from space!" She inquired on their march through the endless staircases and hallways.

"Yeah... maybe I could tell you about it tomorrow. I'm about to collapse. How many stairs have we gone up?" I breathed heavily and stopped to catch my breath.

"We're on the 14th flight, but don't worry, there are only 8 more to go!" She exclaimed, like that was a good thing.

"Where is everyone else staying, and what is this building, anyways?"

"Well, its main purpose is to hold guests, nobility, and the Commander of course. It's also used for events like feasts, discussions, and elections for regional leaders. Everyone that's not staying here, stays in homes or temporary tents."

"So, the guests are staying on floor 22?" I noted.

"No, the guests stay on level 9."

"But Niylah, we're on level 14!"

Niylah shrugged and raised her eyebrow. She knew I wasn't just a guest.

"Okay, so then I'm nobility?"